


Like a River Through a Mountain

by skinnedkneedmisfit



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Domestic Fluff, M/M, Pokemon AU, fake dating that lasts .01 seconds before becoming Actual Dating, flirting through battling, gym leader iwaizumi, pokemon researcher oikawa, scented sexy time candles, smooches, softcore handholding, uncontrollable blushing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 03:09:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 32,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8084413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skinnedkneedmisfit/pseuds/skinnedkneedmisfit
Summary: Iwaizumi thought he was destined to be the Very Best like no one ever was, until family circumstances cuts his quest for pokémon glory short. Years later, he earns his seat as the ground/rock-type Gym Leader in his hometown, but his life doesn't really begin until he gets an obnoxious neighbor across the lake.or, maybe not the slow burn Pokémon au that we want, but the slow burn Pokémon au that we get.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey y'all!! This is my very first post on ao3. Also the first Pokémon-related fic I've written since…… I guess middle school. I took some liberties with the pokémon universe and the way gyms work. I hope you'll be forgiving and enjoy.

Quarry Town  
Human Population - 10,749  
Pokémon Population - est. 15,500

 

When Iwaizumi Hajime got his first pokémon, it was an iwanko pup, the smallest in the litter of puppies nursed by a proud mama and papa at his neighbor’s house up the road. Hajime was five years old and the iwanko could barely open her eyes, but it was love at first sight.

 

At ten, with his beloved Rocky by his side, they set off to become a Pokémon Master like every other child when they came of age. Starting with his home gym, with a well-placed rock slide, he was only seven badges away from accomplishing his goal.

 

Several years, wins, and loses later, Hajime found himself back home, working before sunrise until the early afternoon to help support his mom.

 

So his journey was cut short, at nineteen, with four badges to his name.

 

Six years passed, he still worked at the quarry in his mom’s stead, with his rhydon helping drill for granite that helped make the countertops of almost every kitchen from here to three towns over. It was nothing to sneeze at, and the pay was great. But Hajime still wished for something…  _ bigger. _

 

In the meantime, he spent his spare hours at the Quarry Town Gym, being a trainer for the kids who wanted to learn more about rock and ground type pokémon. The gym was a large, open-space reclaimed airline hangar, with nothing but dirt for flooring. Perfect to protect from the summer heat while being able to battle freely. The gym faced a lake which separated Quarry Town by their sister city, Pine Springs, famous for the large forest of trees that led up the mountain range in the distance. Hajime caught a goldeen there once, but other than that the lake was home to a staggering amount of magikarp and not much else.

 

Outside the gym was where Hajime taught his lessons, after school from three PM to four-thirty PM every Monday and Thursday. He towered in front of a group of his cadets, at least fifteen years his junior, all standing at attention and adoration. Rocky, still his precious iwanko pup, albeit graying with age, slept peacefully by the fence.

 

“You have a geodude versus… say, an ivysaur. It’s preparing its Hyper Beam. What do you do?”

 

A girl with short black hair shot her hand in the air, fingers twitching with knowledge.

 

Hajime nodded. “Yes! Ueno.”

 

“Dig!” she said happily, a small puff of breath whistling from the gap caused by a missing baby front tooth, which she lost last week.

 

“Very good. Once a Hyper Beam is being prepared, the pokémon has no choice but to release it. Dig would allow the geodude to hide from the attack underground and then attack before the ivysaur could shield itself.”

 

The lesson was interrupted by the familiar sound of Rocky’s collar tags jingling as her head perked up from her nap. Hajime checked his watch and realized it was getting to be about that time. “We have time for one more question. A high-level geodude can learn lots of different attacks. What attacks would be effective against an ivysaur in battle?”

 

Ueno’s hand shot up again. “Someone besides Ueno this time. Don’t let her carry your slack.”

 

Another girl cautiously raised her hand. “Yes, Sarada.”

 

“S-self-destruct?”

 

Hajime bobbed his head from side-to-side. “Possibly, but exertion for that attack would cause your geodude to faint in the process. You really don’t want to hurt your pokémon like that. But there is-” He was interrupted by Ueno’s grunting as she attempted to raise her hand even higher. Hajime sighed. “Yes, Ueno?”

 

“You could teach it Flamethrower!”

 

Hajime’s words got caught in his throat for a moment. “That’s… not a skill that a geodude can-”

 

“My brother used a TM and taught it to his gravalar overnight!”

 

Rocky was starting to jump against the fence and woof happily.

 

“Oh. Well, as for TMs, that’s more of a discussion you want to have between you and your pokémon, to see if that’s the direction you want to go. And that’s a lesson for a later time. The answer I was looking for was Double-Edge.” The class started to shuffle impatiently.

 

“Oi, Iwaizumi, it’s five after. Just let these kids go home already.”

 

That was Hanamaki Takahiro, one of Hajime’s best friends since they met at the quarry when he returned several years ago.

 

Hajime rolled his eyes and turned his focus back to the class. “Any questions?” Of course there weren’t, all the kids were too excited to go home and play with their pokémon. “Then at-ease! We’ll continue this discussion on Thursday.” The kids scampered to gather their belongings and leave.

 

It was a Monday evening tradition for Hajime to grab an early dinner with his friend after class. Hanamaki played patiently with Rocky while Hajime spoke with some of the kids’ parents and waited until everyone had left. The gym leader stepped out, using his cane to help get down the short stoop in front of the gym.

 

“Iwaizumi-kun, do you have a moment?”

 

“Of course.” Hajime trotted the rest of the way over. It was mostly small talk. His granddaughter was visiting from Hibana City on her first trip out on her League quest and had to challenge him. Of course, he doesn’t want to go easy on her, but his knee has been acting up and if Hajime could be a little more formidable to other trainers wanting to earn their Quarry Badge, that would be stupendous.

 

Once he had said his piece, he bid Hajime a good evening and nodded pleasantly at Hanamaki before teetering back inside.

 

“I think Old Man Ishimura is starting to show his age…”

 

Hajime hoisted his backpack on his shoulders and whistled for Rocky to join them on their walk down the path towards the main center of town. “How do you mean?”

 

“I mean the guy’s not a boulder anymore, he’s practically a pebble,” Hanamaki chuckled. “When’s he gonna bow down and let you be the leader?”

 

Hajime almost blushed. “I don’t-! Don’t… talk about him like that,  _ please… _ ”

 

“All his family is married with kids and settled. He’s given you keys to the gym, you’re the last trainer the kids have to battle to get to him, he invited you to his eightieth birthday last month,  _ and _ he lets you take his steelix out for walks.”

 

The pink-hued gravel crunched under their feet, creating a nice rhythm for Hajime to get lost in thought with. It wasn’t like he didn’t  _ want _ the responsibility, it just seemed like things were happening a bit out of order. You didn’t have to be a League Champion to be a gym leader, it mostly had to do with being a community leader and having exceedingly highly trained pokémon in the gym’s type category. Hajime had always pictured himself getting all his badges, taking down the elite four, maybe even being a member of that small, upper rank before retiring as the gym leader for Quarry Town in his fifties or sixties.

 

“You’re acting weird. What’s wrong?” Hanamaki sighed heavily. They’ve had this talk before, so he didn’t bother waiting for a response. “Look, you’re not settling. Stop thinking that being a gym leader is settling. You’re making the rest of us look bad.”

 

“But-”

 

“Just because you didn’t become champion of the universe, win a billion dollars, get married and have like ten babies by twenty-five doesn’t make you a failure. There’s still  _ plenty _ of time to do all those things.”

 

“…I guess, I just-”

 

“Look. I don’t really believe in fate, but there’s a reason why you were brought back here. And I think that reason was to become a gym leader. You’re more than a quarryman. I think you could become a gym leader and really leave your mark on the town.”

 

Hajime breathed in deeply through his nose. “You’re right. I know you’re right.”

 

“Hell yes I’m right. And here we are.” He steered Hajime towards their favorite tavern on the main street. Hajime dug his heels in the ground and frowned.

 

“It’s not even five yet.”

 

“Which means we’ll be nice and roasted just in time for happy hour. C’mon.”

 

“I have work tomorrow at six.  _ You _ have work tomorrow at six!” They both had the same schedule.

 

“Misery loves company, and also I want to tell you about my friend back in Starksun Beach, remember him? Oikawa?” Hajime didn’t respond right away so he prodded a little more. “I talk about him  _ a lot. _ ”

 

“Ahuh,” Hajime said, distracted by pulling Rocky’s leach out of his bag so he could attach her to the bike rack outside the tavern. They didn’t allow pokémon inside, no matter how much Hajime insisted that Rocky wasn’t a just an iwanko, she was a perfectly civilized human being trapped in pebbly dog fur. She didn’t seem to mind being left outside too much, though. The tavern had a large bowl of communal pokémon water set by the entrance for such a reason.

 

“Well, he’s moving into Pine Springs. It’s gonna be cool seeing him again. I don’t get to see him much on my trips back home. I’m looking forward to having him so close. You’ll get to meet him, too.”

 

“Ahuh.” Hajime was just repeating himself now, appeasing Hanamaki’s need to chat since his job at the quarry usually required him being around ringing phones and talking gruffly with construction foremen until his ears bled. The trainer was too busy making sure he gave Rocky’s leash enough slack so she could reach the water bowl. She would probably be okay like that for a couple hours, although the guilt of leaving her alone made it difficult to walk away. But he had a friend that needed to talk.

 

“You were talking about meeting someone at work earlier?” he commented, recalling a brief chat they had on their lunch hour. “Flannel?”

 

Hanamaki’s eyes lit up, all thoughts on his Starksun friend long gone. “Flannel-kun!” he cried. “How could I forget, a guy with eyebrows like that  _ really _ leaves an impression. So this douchebag walks into the front offices, literally ten minutes before we close, dropping off order forms that he needs to rush for some dream house he’s building across the lake. He needs twelve counter slabs by Wednesday. Polished and ready to go. Can you  _ believe _ that?”

 

“Our turnaround is twenty-four hours.”

 

“Yeah! For  _ normal _ people! You didn’t see this guy, Iwaizumi. He was a  _ real _ piece of work. He had paint stains all over his pants, his arms were hairy like a gorilla, he almost knocked his head on the doorframe, he-”

 

“All I’m hearing is this guy’s a craftsman, super masculine, and tall. Let me guess: dark and handsome?”

 

Hanamaki’s words got caught in his throat. “Y- …Not- You weren’t  _ there. _ His face was more eyebrow than man. There was nothing handsome about it!”

 

They took their seats at their usual booth. Without even having to say a word, a waitress walked past and left a stout and a whiskey sour in front of Hajime and Hanamaki respectively, along with a bread basket.

 

Hours later, Hanamaki was stumbling drunk by Hajime’s side as they walked back to their neighborhood by the lake. Rocky pittered ahead, sniffing at random objects that had washed up on the shore. Hajime kept a close eye on her as she sniffed at a soggy tangle of brush and took a couple nips at it.

 

“Oi! Leave it!” Hajime barked. Rocky dutifully left the mess of twigs alone and scurried off to the next item of interest.

 

“He didn’t even… fill out the necessary paperwork correctly,” Hanamaki slurred, hanging off of Hajime’s shoulder. “I had to-” he hiccupped “-show him where to initial like- thirty times!”

 

“That form only requires a signature,” Hajime said, attention once again pulled to Rocky licking something in the sediment. “I said  _ leave it! _ ” She moved on and instantly her ears perked and she started sprinting further ahead. “Rocks!”

 

There was something laying on the shore. At first Hajime thought it was more refuse from the trees across the lake, but in the moonlight reflecting on its body, Hajime saw the distinct shape of scales and flapping gills. Now there really  _ was _ a cause for concern because if Rocky was left alone with one of those she was liable to eat it.

 

_ “Shit _ ,” Hajime sighed, sitting Hanamaki upright. “Are you good to stand? We got another escape artist.”

 

Hanamaki caught on, wavering slightly when Hajime let go of him to jog over to where Rocky was licking at a magikarp that had started weakly flopping with what little strength it had left. It was a  _ big _ one, too. Must’ve been over a meter and a half long. “Rocks, leave it alone. Get off.”

 

He shooed her away and she frolicked over to Hanamaki, who bravely risked toppling over to bend down and pick her up. Hajime was more than familiar with this magikarp in particular, having saved it from certain death by tossing back into the lake on multiple occasions. It seemed to grow bigger every time. The magikarp weighed more than Hajime had hoped, so lifting it and tossing it back into the lake took a lot of effort. Once it was in deep enough to get water back in its gills, the dumb fish regained some of its stamina and splashed its way back into the lake, causing the front of Hajime’s outfit to get completely soaked.

 

“Augh, stupid little-” Hajime had a few more choice words to say about the magikarp, but at the end of the day he was glad it was safe before it baked out in the morning sun.

 

“They do that every time,” Hanamaki laughed, “but you save them anyway. What’s that make, the twentieth time?” He placed Rocky back on the ground, where she returned by Hajime’s side and licked some of the lake water off his boots.

 

“At least,” he grunted, stepping back up on the trail. “It’s been getting more frequent. I wonder what’s up with that.”

 

Hanamaki was  _ far _ too drunk to humor him with a reasonable answer. Hajime made sure that his friend got home safely and then returned to his mom’s house to prepare for work tomorrow.

 

Rocky was already running up the cobblestone walkway to the front door and tittering impatiently for Hajime to dig out his keys. “Chill, Rocks, your bed’s not going anywhere.” Still, as soon as he opened the door she rushed off to Hajime’s room where her doggy bed waited in the corner. When Hajime went into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water, he noticed that the television was on.

 

“Hajime? That you?”

 

“Yeah,” he made a detour to give her a peck on the cheek. She placed the television on mute so they could talk. “How was your day?”

 

“Nice. I got some work done in the garden, I’m not sure if you noticed…” She did a lot of gardening, doctor’s orders. It provided exercise while the greenery cleansed the air around the house. Thankfully, since they were close to the lake it was easier to grow things than centrally where the quarry was located. The whole area was practically a desert.

 

“I’ll get a better look at it tomorrow in the daylight,” he promised.

 

“You’re home awfully late,” she said, getting a good look at him. “And you’re awfully  _ wet _ too…”

 

“Yeah, got splashed by a magikarp on the way home.”

 

“The same one?”

 

Hajime only chuckled grimly, returning to the cabinet to pull out a cup. “Sorry for not calling in. Hanamaki wanted to talk so we ended up at the tavern all night.” He poured himself the much-needed glass of water and downed the whole thing while his mom cooed about how much she missed Hanamaki.

 

“Tell Takahiro to come over more often! I can make dinner!”

 

“I’ll see. His place is opposite ours from the gym, though. It’s out of his way…”

 

His mom was silent for a moment, watching the voiceless commercials flicker. “It would be more convenient for you if you lived somewhere closer to work, wouldn’t it?” she asked.

 

Hajime shrugged, even though her back was turned to him. His mom lived in the suburbs on the outskirts of town where most people lived to raise children and retire. Most of his single coworkers at the quarry, like Hanamaki, lived centrally.

 

“I just… don’t want you to feel trapped here.” This also seemed like a pastime of hers, daydreaming about all the possible things Hajime could be doing with his life than living in his childhood home, making sure she was doing okay. “It was helpful at first, but I’m doing much better now. I want you to be doing better, too.”

 

Her voice was growing softer. Hajime moved back beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder to wake her up. “If you’re sleepy, you need to go to bed,” he chided.

 

“Do you think Ishimura-san will keep living at the gym when he retires?”

 

Retirement seemed to be a hot-button topic.

 

“I think only the gym leader is allowed to live in their gym…”

 

“He’d probably want to move back to where his family is in Hibana City anyway, wouldn’t he? So the room would be vacant?”

 

“Mom.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Go to bed.”

 

**~~~~~**

 

Old Man Ishimura’s granddaughter had arrived to begin her pokémon adventure by challenging her grandfather to a match. Hajime had done his part by being extra-challenging to all the trainers that approached them over the past week to guarantee Ishimura would give the young girl the battle of her relatively short life.

 

Hajime watched with fondness as his gym leader pulled out all the stops. He showboated to the crowd, made wild declarations sure to make his granddaughter giggle, even brought out his steelix, but in the end he was taken down by a ten-year-old and her shellder.

 

The gym hangar doubled as a kick-off party for her grand adventure ahead. Ishimura chatted with his family, some of which he hadn’t seen in decades, and when he was tired he sat down on the folding chair next to Hajime, who handed him a bottle of pop.

 

“Thanks, Iwaizumi-kun…  _ Hajime… _ ”

 

Hajime sat up a little straighter. Ishimura usually only called him by his given name when he was on the verge of getting sentimental.

 

“That was a great battle, Ishimura-san.”

 

He huffed and waved his hand dismissively while he pulled the bottle to mouth for a sip. “You’ve been around a long time. The gym’s always been a good starting point for the kids, you know how it is. Their pokémon aren’t the strongest, but we need to give them that solid foundation of victory before they start out in the world… But sometimes a little challenge is a good thing.”

 

“Sir?”

 

Ishimura looked up at the ceiling of the hangar, letting the heels of his boots dig into the dirt on the ground. “I always had hopes of turning this gym into something with a bit more rank.”

 

“Your hopes are still valid, sir. It’s not too late…”

 

“Oh, you know what I meant. I’m not blind. Not  _ deaf _ either. ‘Old Man Ishimura’ is what they call me, right?”

 

Hajime gulped and tried to hide the flush from his face. “Well- I mean, that’s-”

 

“I’m yanking your chain, boy!” he cackled, patting Hajime’s back with the strength of a bony senior with leftover muscle from their youth. “What I’m getting at is… what do you think?”

 

Hajime paused. “…About what?”

 

“The gym! About being a stronger gym!”

 

Hajime didn’t have the heart to tell him that everybody in the hangar just witnessed him lose a battle against a shellder. Not to mention he had asked Hajime to be too difficult for the other starter trainers so he wouldn’t have to battle this week. It was obvious that Ishimura was getting too tired to battle often anymore.

 

“I, uh… think that’s a noble endeavor, sir.”

 

“So you’ll do it?”

 

Hajime was gaping. He was no better than a magikarp.

 

“You’ll take over the Quarry Gym?”

 

“… _ Sir- _ I-”

 

It was one thing to have Hanamaki prod him about it and his mom to hint at it, but it was another thing altogether for it to  _ actually happen _ . Becoming a gym leader is a full-time job. He’d have to turn in his two-week notice at the quarry. He’d have to start a schedule, a  _ regimine _ , to make sure his pokémon were in top shape. He’d have to  _ move _ . Finally, no more sleeping on the cramped twin bed in his too-small bedroom at his mom’s house.

 

And maybe, like Hanamaki had said,  _ this _ could be the big change he’d been waiting for. A sense of honor and dignity restored after his journey had been cut short all those years ago. He may not be a champion, but he was one of seven in their League that thousands of trainers had to battle to prove themselves. That was still pretty damn impressive.

 

He still hadn’t given his answer. He sat up straighter and looked his gym leader in the eye.

 

“Sir, it would be an honor.”

 

**~~~~~**

 

Ishimura’s final battle as gym leader was a much more involved affair than Hajime anticipated. The news was there filming a segment for the evening telecast. His mom made him wear a button-up shirt and a tie, even went so far as to comb his hair back. There was no time to get nostalgic as he was pushed from photo op to photo op. At least twenty pictures were taken of him shaking Ishimura’s hand outside the hangar.

 

“Things sure have changed since I became a gym leader,” Ishimura laughed. “Pokédexes hadn’t even been invented yet!”

 

Ishimura dived head-first into retirement with a spry sense of glee that Hajime hadn’t seen on the old man since he’d been introduced to him in primary school. There were a couple more solo photo sessions for some of the bigger National League magazines. He had an  _ image _ now. He wasn’t little Hajime with his iwanko from down the road.

 

He was  _ Iwaizumi _ , gym leader, and the one who was going to turn the Quarry Town Gym on it’s head by being more difficult than ever before. Of course, in every picture was Hajime’s beloved Rocky.

 

(Of course, his mother was  _ overjoyed _ that she was finally getting her empty house back. “Nothing against you, Hajime, but it was so difficult explaining to my gentleman callers why I couldn’t invite them in after a nice dinner.”

 

_ “MOM.” _ )

 

The gym had closed for a month while it went through a period of transition. The city funded a small remodeling. They gave the gym a fresh coat of siena paint, at Hajime’s discretion. They even helped by paying for his new furniture in the small house on the gym’s property. And an even bigger bonus, in addition to his salary, he was given a stipend to have someone take his old position. He could only think of one person.

 

“I dunno, man,” Hanamaki said, scratching his chin. It was another early night at the tavern and the gym was supposed to open in a couple weeks. Hajime needed somebody to help filter out the trainers by then. “I’m no good with kids.”

 

“It’s not  _ just _ kids that come by,” Hajime said. Regardless of being known as a starter gym, there were a fair share of adult trainers that came by. Whether they wanted a challenge or just got a late start on their journey, they were the ones Hajime enjoyed battling the most. Their experience usually made towards more interesting matches.

 

“I’m no good with battling, then. You’ve seen my sandslash. He’s a quaking leaf.”

 

“Your sandslash has beaten my rhydon  _ multiple times. _ ”

 

“Three out of seventy-six is hardly a good track record,” Hanamaki muttered, but who was keeping track, really. “Why not Kindaichi in accounting?”

 

Hajime shook his head. “He only owns one pokémon and it’s a metapod.”

 

“Watari?”

 

“Pacifist.”

 

“Kunimi?”

 

“Are you serious?”

 

Hanamaki cringed. He knew that was a last ditch effort. His usual party he kept on hand was an eclectic mix of ground and grass types, his strongest and personal favorite being his roselia, Buddy. Buddy had the personality of a fighter but when it came to actual combat his stats just weren’t there.

 

“I can pay you. You’d only have to work part time at the quarry site…”

 

“I’m in.”

 

His sandslash could probably hold its own in a battle against some kids a couple days a week.

 

So with the last order of business taken care of for the gym’s grand opening, Hajime was given a week to settle in. There was plenty of space outside around the area of the hangar for training. With Rocky by his side, he made sure his team was up to snuff. Their League guidelines limited the amount of pokémon used in official matches for a gym of Quarry’s rank from two to three.

 

His tyranitar outclassed their target range, but he’d make a good sparring partner for the ones he ended up picking. Combination types would  _ really _ help step up his gym’s prestige, so his nidoqueen was a shoe-in. His rhydon also had a thick skin and in Hajime’s opinion, a strong defense was a great offense against powerful enemies whose attack libraries were limited. The dark orange sciera and golden yellow iris betrayed the lineage on the huge pokémon, and also held a secret attack that most trainers wouldn’t know just by looking at it. He observed some of the rhydon and nidoqueen’s hands-on sparring while Rocky played in the shallow part of the lake.

 

His attention was pulled away by her barking and whimpering. There was a magikarp in the shallow end of the low tide, dreadfully still. He called off his rhydon and nidoqueen’s match as he got closer to investigate.

 

“Not again,” he muttered upon approaching the sad looking fish. Even Rocky refused to play with it since it wasn't responsive. It looked like a bird had tried to scratch at it earlier, judging by the scrapes over its gills and face. Hajime thought for sure it was dead until its body pulsed, just slightly, and it's tiny pinpoint pupils twitched in his direction.

 

“Rocks!” he shouted. Oh god this magikarp was still  _ alive _ . “Potion!” She moved hesitantly towards their little house. They had just moved, maybe she didn't remember. Hajime always kept his potions close to the door in case they needed something urgently. “Good girl! Fetch! Potion! Go get me a potion!”

 

She took off like a rocket towards the house and Hajime kicked his boots and socks off, getting on his knees and softly lifting the magikarp and moving it closer to the water.  _ “Stupid fish,” _ he muttered.  _ “I.Q. of negative billion. Only knows how to Splash, splashes right out of the damn lake.” _

 

The magikarp quaked once the water got deeper, and Hajime still tried to keep a slight grip on it. “Hold your horses, I ain’t gonna hurt you.  _ Stupid fish…” _

 

Rocky arrived a minute later with a canvas bag in her mouth and her eyes in a worried crease. “Good girl. Good dog,” he cooed, scratching between her ears and taking the bag. There was a purple bottle inside with a spritz cap. The magikarp started splashing with more vigor when it saw Rocky was nearby. “Calm down, she ain’t hurting you either.” At least it was a good sign; it wasn’t as close to dying as Hajime thought.

 

He spritzed some of the bright purple mist onto the scratches on the magikarp’s side. It didn’t seem to react strongly to the potion. In fact, it stopped moving altogether, not even a quiver.

 

“What? No, c’mon!” Water types were dumb and a pain in the ass, but that didn’t mean that he wanted a dead magikarp on his hands. He tried lifting it up and down, but it didn’t move an inch. The body floated lifelessly in the knee-deep water.

 

“ _ Please _ , c’mon… I didn’t mean any of the things I said earlier” Hajime said, feeling oddly guilty about the whole ordeal. He turned to Rocky, who had a sorrowful expression on her face, and to his tyranitar, rhydon and nidoqueen, who kept their distance.

 

Then the magikarp jerked to life, ricocheted off Hajime’s forearms, and smacked him in the face with its tailfin. “ _ SON OF A-” _

 

Hajime watched on, disgruntled and nursing a swollen cheek, as the magikarp skipped away back into the deeper depths of the lake. He turned back to his pokémon, who seemed to be observing him judgmentally. Slapped in the face by a magikarp. The red in the face came from more than his sore cheek.

 

“Don’t give me that look,” he said, eyeing his rhydon especially. “It took two years to teach you not to shit in the house.”

 

The giant beast sniffed at him and returned to its fighting stance against the nidoqueen.

 

**~~~~~**

 

It was finally the day.

 

_ Opening day. _

 

The gym had been cleaned. The news broadcaster arrived at seven in the morning to record the line of trainers who wanted to register for their battles. They even interviewed Hanamaki, who was equal parts snooty and deadpan about the whole experience. Hanamaki wasn’t much of a battler, but he enjoyed any positive attention that turned his way.

 

Hajime had a short statement planned. Succinct and to the point, easily editable in a six-second sound bite for the presses.

 

“Pokémon are creatures with excellent intuition. With the proper trainer, anybody can become a champion. You never lose when you trust your instinct!”

 

Since Hanamaki already had experience working in the offices at the quarry, he was more than prepared to handle all the initial paperwork of trainers applying for their matches.

 

“You know, it just occured to me,” he said after the last person dotted their i’s and crossed their t’s. “I’m going to have to battle more people than you, won’t I? Because they won’t be able to battle you until the get through me…”

 

He looked at Hajime for an answer, but the other boy only whistled a lowly tune and walked out of the office. “Don’t think you can just leave all the paperwork and the battling to me!” Hanamaki called after him, trapped in a tower of letters, certificates, and personal documents. “Don’t think you can just walk off and leAVE ME HERE TO DIE!  _ IWAIZUMI! _ ”

 

“You’re getting paid to be here!” Hajime called once he was a safe distance away. “You signed a contract!”

 

Hajime tried to ignore the sounds of a computer desk being flipped as he ran outside towards the hangar. The official matches would begin that afternoon so he needed to make sure that his team was warmed up by then.

 

Something caught his eye in the distance across the opposite side of the lake. There were two motorboats with flashing lights, the kind that officials and police officers use, tugging out buoys around the far shore. That alone wasn’t completely out of the ordinary, but what was slightly more alarming was the presence of a bulldozer and an empty flatbed truck.

 

Weird, but hardly worth spending time processing while he had trainers to battle!

 

It wasn’t uncommon for there to be a small audience when there was a gym leader battle, a decently sized crowd had already gathered once Hanamaki finally had a trainer slip past him with an above-average ivysaur. The trainer, an out-of-towner, took a moment to give his pokémon the potions and revives they needed to get back in the ring.

 

The hangar was mostly there to provide shade to the spectators, but it also left the arena opened enough for even the tallest pokémon. The dirt floor allowed for ground-types to burrow comfortably. White chalk powder marked the bounds, and on opposite sides where two podiums for the trainers to stand, safely away from any madness that might occur during battle.

 

Before walking up to the podium, Hajime was met with applause from the crowd. He looked over all the new and familiar faces of townspeople and tourists alike, here to see what the first battle of the new Quarry Town gym leader had to offer. He spotted his mom, sitting in the front row holding a small paper fan with the Quarry Gym logo on it, and gave her a small nod when she waved.

 

He marched up the wireframe stairwell until he was in position, and then his opponent took the stand. It looked to be a middle schooler, a little bit older than the average starting age. Hajime had read his paperwork before the match. The kid had a pretty impressive team so far. His biggest concern was the ivysaur, but he’d tested his rhydon’s defenses against a venusaur’s Giga Drain before and still came out on top, so he wasn’t worried.

 

“Go, Iris!” the kid shouted, tossing his pokéball into the ring and releasing his ivysaur.

 

Hajime cocked a brow. This would be over sooner than he thought.

 

“Go, Cliff!”

 

His rhydon loomed over the ivysaur and the battle lasted about eleven minutes.

 

The trainer promised vengeance, and Hajime was plenty worried that when he returned he’d be in trouble, but for now he reveled in his win and politely soaked up the praise from the audience. There would be a half-hour break before the next trainer battle, so between the time Hajime checked up on his pokémon and made sure his rhydon was feeling well enough for another round.

 

“Hajime, I’m so proud of you,” his mom said, approaching him from the stands. “The gym looks beautiful.” Rocky bounced happily at her heels and she knelt to pick her up.

 

“Thanks,” he said, smoothing off some of the kicked-up dust from Cliff’s stony skin. “How are things at the house?”

 

“Blessedly quiet,” she sighed with a chuckle. Forever on the same wavelength, Rocky and Hajime gave her matching deadpan stares. She rolled her eyes and gave both her children a tight hug. “I’m  _ kidding _ . I miss you both. The kitchen is filthy without Rocky to help clean up the floor.” She nuzzled Rocky’s face and the pup happily started licking her nose and cheeks.

 

“I need to prepare for the next battle,” Hajime said. “If you want to hold onto her, I’m sure she’d appreciate it.” He gave Rocky a couple scratches under her chin.

 

“Oh, of course. I love our mother-daughter bonding time,” she said happily, adjusting her grip on the small iwanko. “If they all end that quickly I’ll probably stick around for the next three or four matches.”

 

Seeing his mom’s face in the stands helped keep him centered during the next few battles. They weren’t all wins, but the ones that were able to get past him introduced an interesting challenge. Hajime took note on how his pokémon responded to the various challenges and how to learn from those loses.

 

The badges were well-earned and Hajime felt a sense of pride handing them over to the trainers who won. Perhaps Hanamaki was right. He hadn’t defeated the Elite Four and became a champion, but the emptiness he had felt before was slowly becoming quenched with each hard day’s work that passed. He went to sleep feeling fulfilled and happy…

 

…Until he woke up one morning, a couple weeks after the grand opening, to the sounds of heavy construction machinery. It was in the distance, but still loud enough to leak in through his bedroom window. Rocky slept on undisturbed in her bed by the bedroom door, barely noticing as Hajime moved out of the room to the large windows in the living room that faced the lake.

 

They were bulldozing down the trees on the opposite shore.

 

_ “What?” _ he muttered, still bleary from it being so early. Usually he didn’t wake up until the sun had crested the mountains far off in the horizon, but the skyline was still a hazy shade of sleepy peach. It hadn’t quite sunk in yet.  _ “Why?” _

 

He had a pair of binoculars in his closet, kept with his travel kit whenever he went exploring in the woods surrounding Quarry Town. After retrieving them, he stood on his porch and looked. There were people in neon orange vests and bright yellow hardhats moving with purpose like carpenter ants. Those trees were several hundred years old and  _ huge _ , so it took a lot of time to saw through the base of each one. If Hajime hurried, he might be able to put an end to this.

 

Like with most of his daily routine, he moved on instinct. “Cliff!” he called out, tossing his pokéball into the ground by the house. His rhydon waited patiently while Hajime rushed back inside to throw a shirt and jeans on. There wasn’t time for laces so he slid into his galoshes he kept in the mud room. Then there were the things he always took with him every time he left the house: his belt with his pokéballs, his backpack with water, dog food for Rocky and snacks for himself, and the canvas bag with potions and revives.

 

Hajime whistled loudly and Rocky soon pittered out of his bedroom. “Let’s go, girl. Adventure.”

 

She perked up at that. ‘Adventure’ roughly translated to ‘A ride on Cliff’s back,’ which was one of Rocky’s favorite pastimes. The rhydon was more than happy to accommodate riders. He fell down to all-fours as Hajme threw a blanket over his back to make it better to sit on. Rocky hopped up and perched on Cliff’s head, acting as navigator.

 

“We’re going to the opposite side of the lake,” Hajime said, gesturing towards the loud equipment and noise. Cliff seemed to catch on easily and slowly started moving. Since there was no bridge across the lake, the only way to get around it was to swim across or travel the circumference, which measured roughly thirty kilometers. Normally Hajime wouldn’t think twice about walking, but his rhydon had more stamina and would be able to get them there faster. It didn’t even cross his mind to call his mom or Hanamaki and ask to borrow their cars.

 

Once they were on the main trail, Cliff started on a slightly faster trot. It took just under an hour to get there, and they found it mostly by following the sounds of chainsaws digging into the large pine trees. Cliff slowed to a stop at the sight of yellow and black caution tape wrapped around a makeshift chain link fence. There was a large sign tied to the fence that offered some barebones details about what was going on. Hajime read the sign with a scowl on his face.

 

_ City of Pine Springs Department of Pokémon Parks and Training Commission Authorized Construction Area. No Admittance Without Permit. Construction Company: Sawsbuck Construction. Foreman: Matsukawa Issei. _

 

It was accompanied by a 3D rendering of what looked to be a large, window-covered facility, surrounded by models of pokémon and people enjoying a sunny day outside.

 

“Matsukawa,” Hajime said with a sniff. “That’s our guy. Go ahead.” He kicked softly at Cliff’s sides and the rhydon approached the large gate, where the dirt was trampled and marked by the tread of heavy machinery tires. The gate was locked, but that hardly meant anything to Cliff’s giant horned nose. It used Drill Run and the padlock laid decimated on the ground as they continued inward.

 

As they got closer to the construction area, they passed more workers who had to do double-takes at the rhydon and the furious trainer on its back. Nobody actually had the balls to stop him until he got within range of the giant chainsaw truck that was laying waste to the trees.

 

“WOAH WOAH  _ WOAH!” _ he shouted, getting between Hajime and the truck. At all the commotion, the chainsaw machine died down and the engine soon puttered into the silence. “What the hell are you doing?!”

 

Hajime peered down at the man’s vest. In addition to his ID badge, he had his name stitched into his bright orange vest. “Yahaba?” Hajime asked. The man seemed to respond to it.

 

“This is private property! And you can’t be in here without a hardhat!” he turned to an angry looking man who was operating the chainsaw, who had been watching the events unfold with a look of awe. “Kyoutani, get him a helmet?  _ Please? _ ” The man seemed to glare, or perhaps that was his default expression, as he nodded and left to find one.

 

Yahaba seemed absolutely terrified that Hajime managed to break into the construction site. He seemed like a control freak. “Please, sir, call back your rhydon! I don’t want anyone to get hurt!”

 

Cliff wouldn’t hurt a  _ caterpie _ if Hajime didn’t tell him to, and Hajime had no intention of using him for anything more than intimidation. “What are you doing here? The whole area surround the lake is a park property.”

 

“We know that. Which is why it was zoned for construction by the  _ Parks Department _ ,” Yahaba seethed. “I oughtta take my glaceon out and kick your ass from here to Kōri Park!”

 

Hajime raised a brow and lept off of Cliff’s back. They were similar height so he had no trouble glaring daggers at the scrawny construction worker. “I’d  _ really _ like to see you try.”

 

A tanned arm suddenly shot between Hajime and Yahaba. “ _ Oh- _ kay, that’s enough. Yahaba, your glaceon’s a piece of shit. Go chill with Kyoutani, I’ll take care of this.” The man said this as the angry looking Kyoutani returned with a hardhat, taking it and pressing it into Hajime’s chest. “I’m not joking. You can’t be here without wearing one of those, we’ll get sued. Please.”

 

The man was significantly more soft-spoken than Yahaba, but had a stronger air of power. He stood taller than Hajime, not as broad but large enough to demand respect. Like everyone else on site, he wore a hardhat and an orange vest with his name patched on.

 

“You’re the foreman?” Hajime asked.

 

“You can call me Matsukawa. Yeah, I’m the foreman for this project. You are…?”

 

“Iwaizumi. I live across the lake. What the hell are you doing tearing down the trees? I thought the area was protected.”

 

“The area one kilometer south is protected,” Matsukawa explained, pointing perpendicular to the rising sun. “The land from that point north was private property that the owner leased out to the Pine Springs Parks Department. Last year they sold off a chunk for development.”

 

Hajime had no idea. He’d spent so much of his life admiring the view from the other side of the lake, he’d never known it was someone’s private property.

 

“So what exactly is being developed?” he asked, feeling significantly unhappy about the turn of events. The idea that the land could easily be sold off worried him. What if they expanded the city around the lake, drained its resources, polluted the sky and blocked the mountains with highrises?

 

“It’s a pokémon training facility,” Matsukawa explained. Hajime perked a little at this. That didn’t sound too bad. Matsukawa continued, “for water-types.”

 

Oh.

 

Hajime honestly never understood the appeal. Water was  _ wet _ and uncomfortable, and those types of pokémon tended to be some of the dumbest he had ever met. He opened his mouth to say as much, but was cut off by sudden movement in his peripheral vision.

 

The placid lake had suddenly started rippling and a giant beast broke through it. It had bright blue skin, slick-shined with water, and massive curled horns on the side of its skull. It made a whimpering sound like a whale and focused it’s large, beady black eyes on Hajime and Matsukawa, the latter reacting like this was a perfectly normal thing that happened all the time.

 

“Ah, here he is.”

 

Hajime belated realized that the pokémon, which stood even taller than his rhydon when he was on his hind legs, had a person riding on its back. They were in a wetsuit with goggles and a mouthpiece connected to an air tank strapped to their back, struggling to remove the flippers from their feet.

 

“Mattsun!” the person called after ripping the mouthpiece from his lips. “You won’t believe it! There must be  _ hundreds! _ This is a huge find!”

 

The pokémon turned its long neck to allow the person to use its horns as support and helped them move to the shore without falling.

 

“Such a  _ gorgeous _ shade of orange, I need to remember to bring a camera next- Oh?”

 

They made eye contact, and the person removed their goggles, revealing a face slightly red and puffy from the pressure of his diving. It was a man, tall and lean, and Hajime watched as his eyes raked across Hajime’s body up and down before flickering to the rhydon and then back to Hajime.

 

“Why doesn’t he have to wear a hardhat?” he asked Matsukawa.

 

“What the  _ hell _ is that?” Hajime cried, pointing at the huge pokémon in the water.

 

The foreman rolled this eyes and moved a few meters back to pick up a hardhat that was sitting by a pile of bags, tossing it at the man. With much bellyaching, he put it on and Hajime realized the helmet, printed from a label maker, had the words  _ ‘OIKAWA’S HELMET DO NOT TOUCH’ _ sticked to the front.

 

That name rang a bell.

 

“It’s my lapras, Mizuki-chan,” he answered offhandedly. A  _ lapras _ . Hajime thought those pokémon were supposed to be incredibly rare. “To what do we owe the pleasure?” the man asked, an all-too pleasant smile stretching across his features and Hajime had  _ no clue _ what he was smiling about.

 

Hajime tore his eyes away from the distracting presence of the lapras and back to the man in the wetsuit. “This is  _ your _ training center?” Hajime asked, pointing to the fledgling construction site that so far managed to fell two trees. Work had slowed to a halt and all the laborers had paused, watching the conversation closely.

 

Oikawa glanced over his shoulder to the small crowd and nodded. “Yes. I hired them. I’m sorry, I think I came into the conversation late- Is there a problem?”

 

Well, the original problem was that they were felling trees in a protected parks location, but Matsukawa already proved that to be false. “It’s a  _ water-type _ training center? Why? The nearest water city is-”

 

“-Starksun Beach, I’m intimately aware,” Oikawa stated. He was still smiling, which was driving Hajime bonkers. “All the more reason to have a water training facility here! There’s such a lovely lake, but I’ve done my research and a shockingly few amount of people in the Pine Springs and Quarry Town region have water-type pokémon! It’s a travesty!”

 

Hajime turned his eyes towards the lake. Travesty. Total travesty.

 

“You’re aware that the only pokémon that live in that lake are a bunch of inbred magikarp, right?”

 

Oikawa fixed big, baby brown eyes on Hajime and he saw his smile waver. “Iwaizumi-san,  _ please. _ Show some respect to the pokémon.”

 

Hajime had a few choice words to say about magikarp before something Oikawa said caught his attention. “…How do you know my name?”

 

He was fixed with a curt look. Oikawa rested his arms on his canted hips and frowned theatrically. “And here I thought my reputation preceded me… I mean, you’re Iwaizumi Hajime, correct?” Oikawa took the words caught in Hajime’s throat and the stilted nod of his head as a ‘yes.’ “I saw you in the papers, and I watched your evening news interviews. I was even at your first battle as a gym leader.”

 

“You were? Where?”

 

“I was standing with Makki, but you were distracted talking with your mom, I didn’t want to interrupt. I couldn’t stick around but I see your battle reports in the papers.” He was grinning again. “You’ve got an 84% success rate. Not too shabby for a starter gym.”

 

“Quarry Gym isn’t a starter anymore,” Hajime quipped. “And they’re  _ magikarp _ . They beach themselves on the shore on a near daily basis.”

 

Oikawa just sniffed, turning away slightly so he could unzip the stuffy wetsuit down to about his bellybutton and revealing a toned upper body. Oh god. It took every ounce of Hajime’s willpower not to look. He could tell Oikawa was still looking at him from the corner of his eye, feigning indifference, but daring Hajime to sneak a peek.

 

“I’m not saying that they’re the smartest of pokémon, but the real wisdom of the species lies in its evolution. It’s one of the reasons why I’m so excited to build my facility here!”

 

“Your facility is going to be an eyesore to the entire population of Quarry Town.”

 

Once he discovered that Hajime was there for the explicit reason of being  _ difficult _ , Oikawa’s lips flattened as he pulled his arms free of the wetsuit. “Your mayor  _ and _ former gym leader Ishimura both signed off on this project over a year ago. And I can assure you the plans are stunning, Mattsun knows what he’s doing, and the facility will look flawless.”

 

Matsukawa decided to leave them be and started giving orders to the rest of the crew standing idly by. Oikawa moved towards a tented area where a series of folding tables had been set up, along with blueprints weighed down on the corners with smooth stones. Hajime followed him, trying to ignore the fact that the water trainer looked more like a calendar model walking around shirtless with his hard hat on. He had a swimmer’s body that was difficult not to appreciate. If his attitude weren’t so patronizing, Hajime probably would have indulged.

 

Still, there was something about Oikawa that made him easy to talk to. He never let the conversation die down, which normally would have annoyed Hajime, but every response begged a retort and he found himself not really minding. It almost felt like a game.

 

“Here’s some of the blueprints for the western-facing facade.” He pointed to some drawings of the front of the building, all very sleek and modern looking, but with a touch of classic architecture that promised it wouldn’t look dated in the next twenty or thirty years. Oikawa looked up and pointed towards the opposite shore, where Hajime was able to see the gym hangar and his small house in the distance.

 

“If anything, Iwaizumi-kun, you should be apologizing to me for having to look out at that dilapidated mess every day.”

 

“Spoken like someone who’s never made it to a big city. The gym facilities at Starksun are lightyears ahead of your little shack. But you wouldn’t know that, would you?”

 

Hajime’s eyes widened. “How did you-”

 

“I did my research. I knew my building was going to be across the lake from the Quarry Gym for a couple years, so once I found out you were going to be the new gym leader I looked up the records with the gym leader at Starksun’s gym. We’re good friends,” Oikawa tacked on with a tight smirk. “And low-and-behold, Quarry Town’s new gym leader doesn’t even have all his Regional League gym badges! How embarrassing…”

 

Hajime’s scowl intensified. “Gym leaders aren’t required to have all their badges if the retiring leader and the city agrees they’re the best choice.”

 

“Please, my seventeen-year-old nephew is more qualified for the position.”

 

That stung. “Do you even battle?” Hajime asked. If Oikawa was supposed to be a science nerd, he doubted his party was all that strong.

 

Oikawa rolled his eyes and reached for one of the pouches strapped to the outside of his thigh. He pulled out his Pokédex in a teal, waterproof case and flipped it open. Pinned to the inside cover were eight badges, including one from the Quarry Town Gym. “For the record, Ishimura was a pushover.”

 

That’s it.

 

“Okay, let’s go, pretty-boy. Cliff?” Hajime couldn’t just lay down and take this. His rhydon sniffed aggressively, already picking up on the tone of the situation. Rocky was a little less observant as she jumped from her perch on Cliff’s head and bounded up to Oikawa’s shins, bouncing around and begging for pets.

 

Oikawa seemed taken aback. It was obviously Hajime’s dog but he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to pet her or not. Hajime’s squared shoulders sunk slightly. “Not now, Rocks, c’mon.  _ Heel _ .”

 

Oikawa had the physically bite his lip to hold himself back from cooing all over the precious iwanko. Right. Battle.

 

“You realize that it’s going to be your rhydon against my Mizuki-chan, right? There’s no competition.”

 

Hajime crossed his arms, flexing his biceps in a way that was probably supposed to be intimidating but only served to distract Oikawa from making concentrated eye contact. “Then this should be easy for you. One versus one, no switching, no potions, berries, or revives. Whoever faints first loses.”

 

“And what is this supposed to prove?”

 

“It’s a matter of pride,” Hajime responded. There wasn’t much he could do about the construction, it was all already squared away by the city, but there was something he could do about Oikawa’s smart mouth.

 

“Hey,  _ hey _ guys!” Matsukawa shouted from behind them. They both looked over, almost forgetting about all the people standing nearby trying to build the training center. “If you absolutely  _ have _ to embarrass yourselves today, can you take it down the shore? We’re kinda busy.”

 

“Why don’t you come with us, Mattsun?” Oikawa asked, his voice switching away from being deep and threatening to something teasing and jovial. “We need a referee, and I want witnesses.”

 

Matsukawa sighed heavily, realizing he wasn’t going to meet his mid-morning goals. Yahaba stood close by, gladly accepting the clipboard the foreman thrust into his chest.

 

Oikawa couldn’t hide the look of confidence as he sauntered further down the lake. “This is gonna be over before it starts,” he laughed.

 

“Ahuh,” Hajime hummed, while Cliff and Rocky followed him without prompting.

 

The lapras eyed Cliff suspiciously as she swimmed alongside them, communicating in that speechless bestial way, swapping threats through heavy breaths and guttural groans. They approached a small clearing near the coast and decided to stop. Hajime watched as Oikawa scanned Cliff with his Pokédex to try and get a read on his species. Luckily, Pokédexes didn’t reveal the attacks the scanned pokémon knew, just an aggregated average of baseline stats.

 

Oikawa didn’t say a word to his lapras, but Hajime turned briefly and muttered under his breath. “You good? You walked a lot today.” Cliff exhaled and took a half-step forward. Hajime patted him on the back. “Atta boy.”

 

“Any day now,” Oikawa called from a safe distance away.

 

Hajime rolled his eyes and whistled towards Rocky. “Rocks, c’mon girl.” She springed up into his arms and nestled against his chest as he held her close. He didn’t want her getting tangled up in the pity match. “I tell you what, I’ll make this even easier – I’ll  _ let _ you go first.” Hajime was baiting him, but he didn’t care. As far as he was concerned Oikawa was begging for it.

 

Oikawa stood tall, shoulders back and proud. “Mizuki-chan, Rain Dance!”

 

The lapras spun softly in the water in a spiritual attack that caused a small, low-hanging group of clouds to form and start a small shower. The dirt of the makeshift battlefield was soon covered in water, and everything from Hajime’s clothes to Rocky’s fluffy coat were soon soaked through.

 

The feeling was unpleasant, but Hajime couldn’t stop smiling. He could tell that Oikawa was waiting for him to tell Cliff how to attack next, but Hajime didn’t move a muscle.

 

Instead, sparks started shooting out of the rhydon’s mouth, and Oikawa’s face visibly paled. Cliff used his strong hind legs to push forward and bit into the Lapras chest, delivering a jolt that was only exacerbated by the falling rain. The lapras let out a horrific scream and curled in on itself.

 

It was  _ super _ effective.

 

The attack wasn’t strong enough to cause Mizuki to faint, but she flinched and couldn’t move a muscle.

 

“We can call it a draw, if you want,” Hajime jeered.

 

He took Oikawa’s panicked sprint towards his pokémon as a white flag. “Mizuki-chan!” he sobbed, wrapping his arms around her large head. She cracked her eye open and made a strained affirmation that she was okay. Oikawa rubbed his hand across her giant head as Hajime approached them.

 

He pulled his backpack off his shoulder and unzipped the main pouch. The potions were still there that he had packed earlier that morning. He tossed a Super Potion by Oikawa’s feet. The gesture of kindness caught him off guard, and Oikawa regarded him with a wary expression. After hesitating a moment, he quickly took the cap off the potion and sprayed it on the cooling bite mark on his lapras’ chest. The wound started healing almost immediately and Mizuki breathed deeply in relief.

 

“That’s cheating!” Oikawa remarked.

 

Hajime shrugged. “Says you. I still won.”

 

The water trainer seemed to be caught between livid and baffled. Hot tears for his fallen lapras welled up in the corners of his eyes, but he managed to blink them away without them falling. He accepted his defeat and moved on, his role as a pokémon researcher taking precedence.

 

“How the hell did you get your rhydon to learn Thunder Fang?” he said, building his voice up from whimpering into a genuinely curious question. He pulled out his Pokédex and scrolled through the listing on rhydons. “That’s not something they just  _ learn _ . There’s no TM compatible like that.”

 

Knowing his pokémon’s strengths meant knowing their competitor’s weaknesses. Oikawa had a surprisingly vast general knowledge of pokémon. Hajime was impressed, but hid it well.

 

“It’s good genetics,” Hajime replied flatly. Cliff had luxray blood in him. It’s where his deep orange eyes came from. He was the runt of a litter that was abandoned at a nursery Hajime had come across in his travels. Hajime couldn’t stand to see anything terrible happen to the little guy, so he adopted him. As he rested his hand on Cliff’s giant horn, he was so glad he did.

 

Oikawa remained seated in the silt by the shore, content with staring up at Hajime as his lapras nuzzled into his side while she healed. The sun was just starting to rise past the mountains and the rays crested just over Hajime’s shoulder. His shirt was soaked through from Mizuki’s Rain Dance. It was just a thin, cheap white undershirt. Water dripped from the tips of his spiky hair, and some trailed down his neck, past his clavicle, and disappeared into the crevice caused by his swollen pectoral muscles. God, he was even holding a puppy.

 

The defeated man continued staring until Matsukawa cut in with a loud and well-placed cough.  _ “Ahem _ . Anyway. Very reassuring getting to see the man whose water training facility the city’s spending millions of dollars to build get his ass handed to him with a single attack by a rock-type pokémon.”

 

Oikawa didn’t have a pithy response to that. He just turned his head and focused more on his lapras, who seemed to be getting the color back in her skin. Hajime had dealt with pokémon with worse injuries during his time as Ishimura’s assistant, so he was certain Mizuki would be fine. Oikawa seemed  _ really _ distraught that she got as hurt as she did, and it wasn’t really in his nature to kick a guy when he’s down.

 

“It’s important to be able to read your opponent,” Hajime offered. “Starting off with a status-altering attack probably wasn’t the best way to go.” He knew what Oikawa was going for. Use Rain Dance to strengthen its second attack, probably a basic water-type attack like Surf, and  _ really _ hurt his rhydon as a way of teaching him a lesson. Too bad Cliff new Thunder Fang. “Maybe… we could have a rematch someday and see how you’ve improved.”

 

Oikawa gasped softly, but when he looked up at Hajime, the gym leader already had his back turned and retreated towards his rhydon. He leapt up on its back and let the iwanko return to her perch on the large pokémon’s head. Oikawa just sat and watched as Hajime apologized to Matsukawa for interrupting and then shuffled away.

 

Matsukawa soon arrived by Oikawa’s side, a painfully thrilled expression hidden behind a tight smile. Oikawa was technically his boss, after all.

 

“Wow. How does it feel to lose?”

 

“I didn’t  _ lose _ ,” Oikawa stated. He took another look at Mizuki, who seemed to be doing fine now, and stood up as she paddled into deeper waters. He clutched the half-empty bottle of Super Potion in his hand. “It’s just a temporary setback. This is like a battle versus a war, you gotta think big picture, Mattsun.”

 

“Don’t call me that.”

 

“Hm.”

 

Matsukawa kept waiting for Oikawa to say something smart, or tell him to get back to work, but his eyes kept staring into the distance where Hajime was still seen teetering away on the back of his slow-moving rhydon. He watched his retreating figure too, glancing between it and Oikawa.

 

“He’s handsome,” Matsukawa agreed. “And he  _ did _ call you pretty.” He watched Oikawa’s eyes widen and the man started sputtering.

 

“That’s not-! I didn’t-! He’s-!” He got angry at himself for not being able to finish a sentence and took a quick, deep breath. “That is  _ not _ what just happened.”

 

But even the look in his eyes showed that he didn’t believe his own words. Matsukawa arched a lone, bushy eyebrow and flattened his lips. “If you say so.”

 

He turned to leave but was hindered by the vice-like grip of Oikawa’s hand on his shirtsleeve. “Mattsun, what’s this feeling in the pit of my stomach. It’s like that feeling you get when you go down the first steep fall of a rollercoaster… or crest a speed bump too quickly... “

 

“That’s called love. Let me go so I can make sure Yahaba didn’t burn the forest down.” He pulled his arm out of Oikawa’s clutches and walked briskly back to the construction site.

 

Oikawa was left alone by the shore, standing shirtless with a Super Potion in one and and his other clenched tightly so he could feel his pulse. This wasn’t what he expected, but it wasn’t altogether unwelcome, either…

 

**~~~~~**

 

It took longer getting back to the hangar than it did to reach the construction site. Cliff was weary after the battle and fatigued from the trek out there to begin with. They took a break along the way so he could drink and graze before hitting the trail again. By the time Hajime arrived back at work it was past noon, and Hanamaki was waiting for him in the shaded patch of the battle grounds.

 

“Is this how you make friends and influence people? By almost killing their rare pokémon?” he asked as Hajime approached.

 

“What?”

 

Hajime got off of Cliff’s back and Rocky landed delicately on the floor beside him. He gave him a few pats on the shoulder before calling him back into his pokéball.

 

“Oikawa called me and told me what happened. He said you started a battle and tricked him by using Cliff’s Thunder Fang.”

 

Hajime winced slightly. He supposed he  _ had _ kind of purposefully deceived Oikawa, but that’s the whole point of battling! To be prepared for anything and be able to defend against strong opponents!

 

Wait a second-

 

“How do you know that guy’s name?”

 

By this point Hanamaki had buried his face in his hands, his words smothered into the cups of his palms. “ _ Oikawa is my friend from Starksun Beach!” _ he moaned loudly. “The one who I told you,  _ repeatedly _ , was moving closeby! I spent so much time talking up what a cool guy you were and now he thinks you’re a colossal asshat!”

 

“…Oh.”

 

“He even stopped by to see your first battle a few weeks ago and told me he thought you were incredibly talented!”

 

Hajime’s mind suddenly flashed back to a seemingly innocuous comment Oikawa had made earlier. A name he didn’t recognize. “Wait a second… Makki?”

 

Hanamaki’s face turned bright crimson as he started sputtering, “Y-you honestly  _ really _ need to never call me that ever again.” A wry grin slid across Hajime’s face. “I-it was a nickname from high school. It’s stupid.”

 

Hajime shook his head and started towards the offices, Hanamaki and Rocky following closely. “It wasn’t  _ that _ bad. I made sure his lapras was fine before I left. He’s just a shitty trainer, for all his apparent clout.”

 

“Oikawa was one of the highest regarded assistants to the lead researcher at the Kaisui Facility at Starksun. He got Professor Lily’s blessing and asset support to open a training facility here. It’s more than just  _ training _ , it’s a chance to introduce the people of this area to water-type pokémon,” Hanamaki explained once they were inside. “So yeah, he might not be the very  _ best _ , but he’s a hell of a researcher.”

 

“If he’s a nerd then he shouldn’t have hassled me to fight.”

 

It was obvious Hajime was going to be stubborn about this. Regardless of their negligible argument, Hanamaki took his place behind the main desk and opened up a manilla folder.

 

“You’re scheduled for walk-ins today, remember?”

 

“In the afternoon?”

 

“Yeah. Go get a quick lunch and, I dunno, think about what you did. Try not to disappoint any incoming trainers by annihilating their beloved pokémon before their very eyes today. Can you do that for me?”

 

“No promises.”

 

**~~~~~**

 

Now that the gym had been reopened a little while, the backlog of trainers had died down and they were slowly moving towards the more leisurely pace of waiting for new trainers to arrive, much like it was when Ishimura was still leading. Hajime and Hanamaki would have small, low-stakes battles to fill the time between.

 

“I gotta say, man. It’s bullshit that your tyranitar can pull off Ice Fang,” he said, applying a potion the the small frozen scrapes on his sudowoodo.

 

“He’s still weak against grass types. I bet if you let your roselia battle him you’d win.”

 

“I would never let Buddy sully her hands in this travesty of war.”

 

Hajime was about to make a comment that half of Hanamaki’s annual salary came from being a gym trainer until he saw a jeep drive up to the small parking area at the side of the hangar. The driver got out and pulled a small sack out of the backseat before hesitantly approaching them. After the events that transpired a few days ago, Hajime could recognize that coiff of bouncy mahogany curls anywhere.

 

“Oi!” Hanamaki called, seeming pleasantly surprised. “I didn’t know you were stopping by.”

 

“I had a few errands to run.” Oikawa was awkwardly not making eye contact with Hajime, instead choosing to focus on the ground near his feet. He looked significantly less sexy in a teal windbreaker and slacks, but somehow still unreasonably attractive.

 

“And those errands brought you to my gym? Ready for a rematch already?”

 

Oikawa glanced up and gave Hajime a small glare. It was absolutely thrilling. “Don’t think I’ll so easily forget about that, but no. Today I’m too busy for mindless activities like  _ battling _ .” Hajime was about the sock him one before Hanamaki held him back. Oikawa seemed not to notice as he glanced down again at the bag in his hands before holding it up for Hajime.

 

“What’s this?”

 

“It’s nothing. But my worthless pride wouldn’t let it slide.”

 

Hajime took the proffered bag and let it rest by his side. Hanamaki and Oikawa exchanged pleasantries, including plans to go out for lunch sometime next week. Hajime watched the conversation with feigned disinterest. It wasn’t often that he found someone who acted so  _ coldly _ towards him. Seeing Oikawa interact genuinely amiable towards other people was an interesting change.

 

The conversation lulled as Oikawa mentioned the long list of chores he still had to do. “You didn’t have to come all the way out there…” Hajime mumbled. Oikawa finally glanced his direction again.

 

“I know I didn’t. Don’t think too much about it.”

 

“It would’ve been quicker if you took Mizuki.”

 

Something in Oikawa’s expression softened. He adjusted his grip on his keys and shuffled his feet. “Well, since I’m going to be spending quite possibly the rest of my life here, it’s important to get familiar with the roads, but…” He gave Hajime a cheeky grin, and seeing it released a breath of relief the gym leader hadn’t realized he’d been holding in. “…Now that I know you’re a secret lapras fan, I’ll bring her by more often.”

 

Oikawa checked his wristwatch and mentioned that he had to leave. He confirmed his plans with Hanamaki before setting off back to the jeep. Once the car had started and he drove away, Hanamaki turned towards Hajime. “So? What is it?”

 

Hajime opened the bag so he and Hanamaki could see.

 

It was ten brand new bottles of Hyper Potion.

 

**~~~~~**

 

It was a bright and early Friday morning when Hajime woke up, once again, to the sounds of chainsaws tearing down the trees across the lake. He peeked through his bedroom window curtains and saw the dust being kicked up from the construction, causing a faint haze in the normally crystal-clear morning skies. He also noticed a large lapras wading in the shallow end of the lake near his house. A certain pokémon researcher laid on his back upon her shell.

 

With a weary sigh, Hajime moved to the living room bay windows and opened them.

 

“How are the magikarp today?” he called.

 

Oikawa responded by jerking and almost falling off Mizuki’s back. He managed to save himself by hugging one of the giant barbs. “Iwaizumi!” he shouted back, surprised. Hajime didn’t know why he sounded so shocked, it was obvious this was a gym leader’s house. “Um. Yeah. They’re very… splashy.”

 

Hajime was starting to have very real doubts that Oikawa was an actual pokémon researcher. Rocky wandered into the living room at the sound of Hajime’s voice and jumped up onto the cushioned window seat. She recognized Oikawa and his lapras immediately and started barking, wagging her tail furiously. Hajime sighed in defeat.

 

“We’re gonna have breakfast. Want any?”

 

That was how Hanamaki discovered them when he let himself into Hajime’s home. He was given a key and expressed permission to enter Hajime’s bedroom, airhorn in hand, if he hadn’t been to the office before ten in the morning.

 

“But that’s the thing!” Oikawa said, pointing at Hajime as if trying to prove a fact from his research. Hanamaki noted an empty carafe of coffee and was suddenly worried for Hajime’s safety. “Evolution unlocks so much hidden potential in almost every breed of pokémon. There’s no scientific evidence that says it  _ takes away. _ You can’t tell me that a psyduck has the same powers as a golduck. They’re practically two different beings! To be given the opportunity to evolve your pokémon and then  _ rescinding _ that opportunity is a crime against their wellbeing.”

 

“Pokémon don’t need evolution to live fulfilling lives, that’s you projecting. All a pokémon needs to survive are their own instincts from hatching. Not all my pokémon are fully evolved, but that doesn’t make them  _ stupid _ or unhappy.”

 

“But what’s the point of being content with life if there’s something better out there? Why would you stop your pokémon from being the very best they could be?”

 

“I’ve never  _ stopped _ any of my pokémon from evolving if that’s what they truly wanted. Would you evolve a pokémon if they were happy remaining as a less developed form?” Hajime subconsciously hugged his precious iwanko, who had been happily sitting on his lap and gnawing on tiny crumbs of bacon, closer to his stomach.

 

This was wobbling away from  _ friendly discussion _ territory and into a heated argument. Hanamaki was well aware of both of his friends personalities and tried to intervene. “Uh, guys?” he said, announcing his presence by knocking on the doorframe to Hajime’s breakfast nook. The two turned their heads, both a little surprised that Hanamaki had been standing there, presumably for a long time. “Iwaizumi, it’s already half past training time, and you’ve got an interview at three.”

 

Hajime looked defeated, like his mother just asked him to stop playing and come inside to clean his room. “Gah. I completely forgot.” He placed Rocky back on the floor and started cleaning up the plates from their breakfast. “I never asked- what were you doing out on the lake so early this morning, anyway?”

 

Oikawa stood up and stretched. “Oh! Makki and I are going to hang out. He’s going to show me all the hot spots around Quarry Town!”

 

Hajime wasn’t aware any existed.

 

“I’m just taking him out to lunch at the tavern. The new facility’s doubling as his home, so until construction’s completed Oikawa’s basically stuck in his hotel room.”

 

“That construction will take months,” Hajime said, turning back to Oikawa.

 

“I knoooow. It sucks, but they want me to be around to give oversight and answer any questions. I’m already missing the beach.”

 

“I bet,” Hanamaki agreed. “I remember when I first moved here it felt frigid in the summertime.”

 

“This is the summertime!” Oikawa wailed. “You guys both wear t-shirts and sandals and I feel like a doofus wearing a sweater…” He pulled on the sleeves of his oversized Hibana Gym hoodie until they covered his hands. Hajime wasn’t even aware Hibana City  _ had _ any cold weather merch, that place was a literal desert.

 

“Oh, that’s right! I remember talking on the phone when you were visiting the Kōri Gym,” Hanamaki laughed. “You’d never seen snow before!”

 

Hanamaki and Oikawa continued their back and forth while Hajime cleared his kitchen of all the breakfast prep. Spending quality time with his pokémon and honing their special abilities were the things that made Hajime especially happy, however he found himself wishing he could delay his afternoon a little bit longer and continue talking theory with Oikawa. He didn’t necessarily agree with everything the man said, but it had been a while before he found someone willing to talk with him at length about this kind of stuff.

 

It was nice having someone who could keep up and challenge him.

 

**~~~~~**

 

Hajime’s nightly routine was pretty consistent. After work he would go on a jog with Rocky up and down the shore of the lake two or three times, depending on how distracted Rocky got by the flora and fauna. As soon as he got home, he would hop in the shower, make dinner, and possibly relax in front of the television if he didn’t take any work home with him.

 

Before going to bed, he would make sure Rocky had fresh water, all the lights were turned off, and that his Pokédex laid at his bedside table so the alarm function would wake him up if the sunrise didn’t. His bedsheets were a practical cotton blend with navy and beige stripes, along with a quilt that was a gift from his grandmother. He had just settled in, snug as a bug, when his Pokédex vibrated with a new message.

 

Hajime opened his eyes and stared defeated at the ceiling. If this was Hanamaki texting him with another complaint about another client at the quarry he was going to throw the damn thing out the window.

 

His Pokédex was more of a relic of antiquated technology than anything of real use. It didn’t even have a camera, but the scanner still worked so Hajime didn’t see a need to upgrade.

 

**_[From Unknown Number 23:12:06]: Iwa-chann!! Look who I met today! (≧∀≦) [Image Attached]_ **

 

A vein in his forehead popped as he wondered how that water-type pain in his ass found his contact information, glancing over the message. The image was a selfie of Oikawa with a dragonair wrapped around his neck. He was positively beaming while the creature rubbed its head against Oikawa’s cheek. It was disgustingly cute.

 

**_[Sent 23:13:02]: Go to sleep dumbass. Where the hell even are you?_ **

 

**_[From Unknown Number 23:13:55]: The picture was at daytime! ( ｰ̀εｰ́ ) I’m obviously back at the hotel by now!!_ **

 

**_[From Unknown Number 23:14:46]: There was a meet-and-great for water-type trainers today! I was a guest of honor! [Image Attached]_ **

 

It was a picture of Oikawa’s feet with the wide, permanent scowl of a croconaw looking up at him.

 

**_[From Unknown Number 23:15:31]: Her name is Beatrice!_ **

 

Despite it all, Hajime found himself burying his face into his pillow and chuckling softly.

 

**_[Sent 23:17:11]: I have to be at work at 7 tomorrow._ **

 

Not that he didn’t sometimes stay up later, but tomorrow he had a lot of battles and in the evening he had to do his usual class with the kids. He’d be lucky if he made it home before sunset, so he was preparing for a long day.

 

**_[From Unknown Number 23:18:23]: I’m sorry Iwa-chan! Am I keeping you awake?!_ **

 

“Of course you are,” he muttered to himself. He heard Rocky’s collar tags clink as she lifted her head at the sound of his voice.

 

**_[From Unknown Number 23:18:45]: …Should I not come by tomorrow morning?_ **

 

Hajime stared at the message for a few minutes, until his screen went into sleep mode. He actually enjoyed Oikawa’s visits. It wasn’t like the lake was his property, the man could ride his lapras in it as much as he wanted. He started thinking about what tomorrow would bring, not in if he had enough potions between matches, but if he had enough eggs and bacon in his icebox.

 

**_[Sent 23:22:05]: Do what you want._ **

 

**_[From Unknown Number 23:22:51]: I’ll see you tomorrow then Iwa-chan! Sweet dreams!!_ **

 

He rolled his eyes and didn’t bother sending a response. Before going to sleep, he added Oikawa’s contact information to his Pokédex’s directory, and set his picture as the one of him and the dragonair.

 

**~~~~~**

 

It had started becoming routine for the both of them. Hajime would pull back the curtain of his bedroom window in the morning, it didn’t matter if it were five and the sky was a soft shade of peach or nine and the sun was starting the crest the mountaintops, and Oikawa would always be there, on the back of his lapras. Sometimes he would be reading a book, other times he would be playing with his Pokédex, and on mornings with truly exceptional sunrises he would lay on his back and just watch.

 

Then, Hajime would walk to his living room and open the bay windows so he could shout something along the lines of, “ _ Are you coming in or not? _ ” and Oikawa would always accept his invitation. Sometimes they would discuss theory, or how the construction on the facility was going, and sometimes they would chill and eat cereal while watching television. It was always relaxing and never boring. The only thing that changed was the training center slowly growing more complete across the lake.

 

Normally Hajime was good about not letting time get away from him and arriving at the office at a normal time. For Hanamaki, Oikawa’s increased presence didn’t go unnoticed, for once he decided to keep his lips sealed and monitor events as they unfolded. While Hajime had been spending more time with Oikawa, it was all fairly chivalrous. It was too early to make any assumptions just yet…

 

One morning, instead of calling Oikawa inside like usual, Hajime went outside to greet him with Rocky trailing close behind. As much as Oikawa was teased for being sensitive to the cold, before the sun rose properly there was a chill by the lake to the point where Hajime felt uncomfortable if he didn’t don a heavier coat.

 

“Aren’t you freezing?” he asked. If it was cold by the shore, it was probably worse drifting in the middle of the lake the way he did.

 

“Mizuki’s warm,” Oikawa replied, placing his bare hand on her shell. “And I have this,” he added as he held out his thick woolen blanket like a cape. He gave Hajime a scrutinizing glance before shifting to the side of Mizuki’s back. “There’s room for one more. Two, if Rocky sits in your lap.”

 

Hajime was taken aback. He’d never ridden on the back of a water-type pokémon like this. In all his travels before his untimely return home, anytime he had to cross a body of water it was always by barge. He was worried that the lapras would be overly vigilant about allowing the man that almost made her faint on her back, but she willingly swam closer to the shore so Hajime could climb aboard. He whistled so Rocky would jump into his arms and he took the first few steps forward, never moving his eyes from the large pokémon’s face.

 

The silt and dead grass around the edges of the lake crunched under his galoshes as Hajime approached. He used the barbs on her back as stirrups to help him get on the shell. When he needed two hands, Rocky leapt out of his arms and into Oikawa’s waiting lap, where she snuggled in close. Oikawa laughed and scratched between her ears.

 

Hajime got himself situated and was surprised to find the lapras’ shell hot to the touch, compared to the outside temperature. Like a sun-warmed stone. She started pushing back on the shore with her large foreflippers to get back into deeper water.

 

“Can she carry both of us?” he asked hesitantly. The shell wasn’t huge and seemed to fit Oikawa perfectly. He was worried two grown men might be too much.

 

“Mizuki-chan is surprisingly buoyant,” he assured, reaching forward to rub the skin of her neck. Normally in the morning when Hajime found them she would just be floating adrift, but now she seemed to be paddling with a purpose towards the deeper end of the lake.

 

“Where’s she taking us?” Hajime asked, unable to hide a small laugh as he hugged the large barb in the middle of her back between him and Oikawa.

 

Without looking he could sense the smile in Oikawa’s voice. “To visit her new friends.”

 

As if on cue, a goldeen splashed out of the water as she crested through the tranquil morning water. Followed by a magikarp. Which was followed by at least fifty more magikarp before Hajime paused to look around them. The lakewater seemed like it was boiling over, more orange and filled with life than he had ever seen it before.

 

“Is that a  _ seaking _ ?” Hajime asked, pointing to a large orange fish with a tiny, doofy smile.

 

“Haha, yeah. There’s a small school of them in there. And there’s a rock about fifty meters that way,” Oikawa said, pointing to the northern side of the lake, “where the goldeen like to play. The magikarp can’t go that deep because they don’t like the cold, so they tend to stay closer to the surface.”

 

Hajime had no idea. He guessed the answered his question as to why they always seemed to get washed up on the shore all the time. Rocky started getting restless in Oikawa’s arms. Rumbling barks started out softly but were now spilling from her mouth every time a magikarp got too close.

 

“She’s fine,” Hajime told him. “She won’t fall.” So Oikawa let go and Rocky immediately jumped near Mizuki’s neck and quietly observed the strange phenomenon. Mizuki swam in large, aimless circles and the fish following them never seemed to cease or dwindle in numbers. “So does this happen every time you come over?”

 

Oikawa smiled, reaching his hand down closer to the water. Magikarp started competing for his touch, seemingly toppling over themselves to jump into the palm of his hand for brief contact. “Not all the time. This only happens when Mizuki provokes them. The way she spins her fins when she’s swimming reads like a code, so the fish know if it’s okay to come out or not. If I’m in a hurry, they won’t bother us, but if I want to check on them, she communicates with them and helps bring them to the surface.”

 

“So this is something magikarp just do on instinct,” Hajime said softly. He reached his hand over the edge like he saw Oikawa doing. Almost instantly the dumb, bright orange fish were jumping over themselves to get physical contact. He still didn’t think much of them, but there was something endearing seeing so many creatures vie for his attention. “This is kinda cool…”

 

One magikarp in particular jumped high above the others. It bounced off of Hajime’s outstretched hand and into his lap, flopping around like it was enjoying itself. Hajime was finally able to get a good grip on his scaly skin and realized the familiar pattern of faded scars around its eye and gills.

 

“You again?” he grimaced, tossing him back into the lake with its family.

 

Oikawa’s curiosity was piqued. “Again?”

 

“That dumb fish has a death wish. It keeps jumping out of the water around me and one of these days it’s going to get itself killed.”

 

The other man just laughed and shook his head. “He probably doesn’t have a death wish, he probably just wants you to capture it.”

 

“Wild pokémon rarely  _ want _ to be captured,” Hajime insisted. At least, he never felt entirely comfortable with the idea that wild pokémon should be captured and tamed, and then used to battle others. He’d had his nidoqueen since she was a baby nidoran, and his tyranitar was adopted from a shelter as an abandoned larvitar when he was about a year into his journey.

 

“I hate to break it you but if that’s your stance, you’re in the wrong business.” Oikawa had his legs drawn up and rested a cheek upon his knees, looking at Hajime with a pleasantly confused smile.

 

“Well, how did you get your lapras? You didn’t just take it while surfing or something, did you?”

 

Oikawa blinked and lifted his head. “Iwa-chan, how did you know I surfed?”

 

Hajime outwardly cringed at the name. “…Educated guess.”

 

For a moment, Oikawa became distant, letting his hand float in the water while the magikarp nibbled at his fingertips playfully. “I was on the verge of completing my journey. The gym in my town was the highest ranked in the league, so I didn’t start there. All I had to do was defeat the the Starksun Gym and I would be qualified to challenge the Elite Four…”

 

He moved his hand away from the fish to stroke Mizuki’s neck. She hummed lovingly in return. “Mizuki-chan had belonged to a different trainer, then. She’d fainted after a particularly harsh match, and instead of taking her to a pokémon center immediately, her trainer left her in an abandoned pool. That’s how we met.”

 

Hajime couldn’t believe that someone would just disown something as mystic as a lapras. He found himself petting her skin by the edge of her shell, and she beamed at all the attention she was receiving.

 

“Her condition was too critical to handle at the local Pokémon Center, so we took her to the aquatic research facility. They were better equipped for dealing with water pokémon her size, anyway… That’s where I met Professor Lily. I had always had an interest in water-types because of my hobbies, but she introduced ideas of conservation and spreading knowledge. She became my mentor, and… well,” he gestured towards the construction taking place in the distance, “here we are. I adopted Mizuki-chan, she helped me win my eighth League badge, and then I decided to forgo the Elite Four and retire from battling to work at the facility full time. That was about… six years ago.”

 

So that meant by the time Hajime returned home with only four badges to his name, Oikawa had already earned all of his and retired. The man was a lot stronger than Hajime gave him credit, but of course he couldn’t tell him that. Hajime hummed. “Six years? So that’s why you sucked so much when I fought you.”

 

“Mizuki-chan is strong!” Oikawa replied, affronted.

 

“I don’t doubt it. It’s her trainer that could use some work.” At least now Hajime was able to understand a little better why Oikawa was so freaked out when she almost fainted in battle. Honestly, now he knew more about her he was surprised Mizuki was so welcoming to him.

 

Oikawa curled up under his blanket a little tighter. “It’s too cold to spend much more time out here,” he decided, rubbing his hands against the warmth of Mizuki’s shell. “Rocky doesn’t have any secret fire attack I’m unaware, does she? No Flamethrower? Fire Blast?”

 

Hajime laughed, letting the small dog return to his lap and cuddle. “Nah, she’s pretty hopeless when it comes to attacking. Purely domesticated.”

 

Oikawa sighed and gave Mizuki two heavy pats. “Okay then, Mizuki-chan! Let’s head home!”

 

The lapras bobbed her head and started using her fins to push forward. The magikarp slowly started dispersing as they heading towards the construction.

 

“No, not  _ that _ home! Iwa-chan’s home!”

 

**~~~~~**

 

“Have all the kids left yet?” Hanamaki asked when Hajime entered the office after seeing off the last of the children from his training sessions. Because of his new schedule, he had to change the times for his classes, so they weren’t released until closer to six.

 

Hanamaki rushing to file paperwork and insert data into the computer wasn’t lost on Hajime. “In a hurry?”

 

“Yeah, I’m supposed to meet up with Oikawa after work for dinner, but I forgot I had to make a call before closing up.”

 

Hajime’s ears perked up. “Oikawa’s coming by?”

 

The glorified secretary pulled his rolodex closer and started flipping through names. “Yeah, his building’s main construction completed this afternoon, so they’re starting with interiors tomorrow. We’re having a boy’s night to celebrate.”

 

“Oh.”

 

There was a long pause as Hanamaki found the name he was looking for, removed the card, and poised himself by the phone to make the call. He glanced up at Hajime when he realized the man was just standing there, uncharacteristically staring off into space. “…Did you want to come with us, Iwaizumi?”

 

Hajime shrugged. “Well, if Oikawa doesn’t want me there…”

 

For all the effort Hanamaki exerted to roll his eyes, Hajime was certain they would fall out from the sheer force of it. “There is no way in hell that Oikawa would turn you down for a dinner invite. Why don’t you go home and…” During a match against a grimer, a Mud Slap went awry and ended up coating Hajime in a crusty layer of dirt. For him, this was normal, and he didn’t even try washing it off as the day progressed. “…How about you take a shower or hose yourself off in the backyard or whatever it is you do to look presentable.”

 

“How presentable do I need to look?”

 

“Do you own a suit?”

 

The short answer was No.

 

“…Where exactly are we going?” Hajime wasn’t aware there  _ were _ any places in Quarry Town that necessitated suits.

 

“Nowhere if you don’t get your ass home and take a shower.”

 

So once he was out of eyesight, Hajime scurried home and hopped in the shower. Mud Slap muck was famously ridiculously difficult to clean, the dried up dirt melting off his skin and staining the tub purple. Oddly enough, it left Hajime’s skin feeling cleaner than usual and refreshed. When he wiped the steam off the mirror, his skin tone of his face looked more even than it had ever before.

 

On days where he had to be in front of the camera, he would try to put gel in his hair and style it the limited way he knew how. He realized much to his chagrin that his normal tube was exhausted. Usually in cases like this, there was some in the bathroom in the office across the property. Fortunately, he heard the sounds of Hanamaki opening and closing cabinets in the kitchen, so he wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped outside the bathroom.

 

“Oi, Hanamaki! Do you have any hair… gel…”

 

Oikawa was sitting on his couch.

 

Hanamaki was in his kitchen but Oikawa was definitely sitting on his couch and staring. He was wearing a pale teal button-up dress shirt and black slacks that were tailor-made to fit every curve of Oikawa’s long, long legs. Hajime could feel his heart leaping out of his throat when he realized he was staring at Oikawa’s legs for too long and looked up at his face, only to find Oikawa’s eyes dazed and lost somewhere in the space where Hajime’s chest was.

 

“Sorry, what’d you- Oh, c’mon man. Put on a shirt and stop showing off.”

 

Hajime tore his eyes away from Oikawa, an impressive feat in of itself, over to Hanamaki who stood in the entryway of the kitchen with a glass of water.

 

“H-hair gel?” Hajime pretended he didn’t whimper.

 

“I have some!” Oikawa said, way too loud. To make the interaction even more awkward, Oikawa stood up and approached Hajime, who just wanted to curl into the fetal position and plummet off the highest peak of the tallest mountain. Oikawa had a shoulderbag and he pulled out a small tube of hair gel. It made total and complete sense for Oikawa to have this on his person.

 

Seeing Oikawa standing in his nice outfit was a whole other matter. His shirt fit around his slim body and toned arms, and the belt around his waist showed off slender hips and Hajime didn’t even have to imagine what he looked like without his shirt because the memory of Oikawa slowly unzipping and peeling out of his wetsuit when they first met over a month ago was still so fresh in his mind it could’ve happened this morning.

 

Hajime took the hair gel and quickly fled back into the bathroom without even a word of thanks. Oikawa remained standing in the living room, unable to process what he just saw. He didn’t snap out of it until Hanamaki sidled up beside him.

 

“He does like a thousand sit-ups a day,” he deemed fit to mention. The ice in the glass of water he was holding clinked as he offered it to Oikawa. “Thirsty?”

 

\- 

 

Oikawa had turned back into his usual, annoyingly charming self by the time Hajime reemerged in the living room donned in his only collared shirt and his hair appropriately gelled. From what he had gathered, Hanamaki went to Hajime’s house when he finished closing up the office, and Oikawa met him here.

 

“It took you long enough, Iwa-chan, I was about to fall asleep!” He led the two men outside where his jeep was waiting. Hajime vaguely noticed the front passenger window was rolled down and the light from a cellphone glowed from inside. “Oh! And before I forget, I invited a friend!”

 

It was the construction foreman, Matsukawa Issei. He poked his head out and gave a small salute. “Yo.”

 

Hanamaki stopped dead in his tracks and threw his arm across across Hajime’s chest to stop him.

 

“Hey! What-”

 

_ “Flannel-kun!” _ Hanamaki whispered hoarsely.

 

“What?” Hajime wasn’t following.

 

“It’s  _ Flannel-kun! _ The guy who wouldn’t stop harrassing me at the quarry offices!  _ That’s _ him!”

 

It had been a while since Hanamaki complained about it. The new schedule working part-time at the gym probably lessened his interaction with  _ Flannel-kun _ , or Matsukawa, by a lot. Hajime wasn’t entirely sure why Hanamaki had beef with him, but if the foreman made his friend feel uncomfortable, it was Hajime’s job to side with his friend.

 

“What, you need me to rough him up or something?”

 

“ _ No _ , just- confer with me about one thing.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“His eyebrows look stupid, right? It’s not just me?”

 

“I’m getting in the car.”

 

“No, Iwaizumi, wait-”

 

Oikawa had already sat in the driver’s seat, and Hajime took the seat behind him. Hanamaki reluctantly sat behind Matsukawa, who turned his head back as soon as Hanamaki shut the door. “Oi, Quarry-kun. Haven’t seen you in a while. How’s your roselia?”

 

Hanamaki rolled his eyes and turned to Hajime. “He’s using our granite,  _ our precious, finite resources, _ to make countertops in Oikawa’s facility.”

 

“That’s literally the entire reason why the quarry exists,” Hajime muttered in response.

 

Hanamaki continued grousing under his breath as Oikawa drove them to some fancy club downtown,  _ The Shimmering Diancie. _ Everything about the shops and restaurants downtown seemed to change every few months, and since Hajime only made it this far central a handful of times a year, it all looked brand new to him.

 

Apparently the phone call Hanamaki had made earlier in the evening was to confirm a reservation. The hostess led them to a section away from the noisier bar and dancefloor area to a quieter upper level where there were tables and people eating actual dinners. The ceilings were vaulted and huge, with sparkling chandeliers and swablu floated around creating a soft ambiance.

 

The hostess arrived at their table, a booth pressed against a window with two seats on either side facing each other. Hanamaki sat down first, and as he scooted closer to the wall, Hajime moved to sit beside him. He was thwarted when Oikawa discreetly tugged the sleeve of his shirt and dragged him down the seat beside him. That meant Matsukawa had no choice but to sit next to Hanamaki.

 

His friend glared daggers at Hajime diagonally across the table, but there was nothing he could do. Oikawa’s face was hidden behind the menu as if nothing was wrong. “Ooh, Iwa-chan, the spaghetti looks good!” Oikawa pulled the menu up so both their faces were covered.

 

Hajime took a moment to read the menu. There was nothing truly exceptional about that dish, except that it was what Hajime was planning on eating. “…It’s just basic spaghetti?”

 

_ “Quick! What kind of food does Makki like?” _ he whispered.

 

Hajime didn’t think their faces had ever been this close together. Somehow Oikawa still managed to look perfect, but Hajime tried to attribute it to the soft lighting from the chandeliers.

 

“ _ Uh… Bread?” _

 

Oikawa looked like he wanted to flick him on the forehead.  _ “What  _ else _ does he like?” _

 

_ “Hamburgers?” _

 

_ “You’re useless.” _

 

He quickly lowered the menu, Hajime no less confused. Even Hanamaki was giving weird glances between him and Oikawa. “Oh look, they have hamburg steak,” Oikawa said, pointing at the menu. That seemed to catch Matsukawa’s attention. “Perhaps you and Makki could split!”

 

Hanamaki’s upper lip curled. “What?”

 

Hajime threw up both hands and started to leave the booth. “Okay. I’m going to the restroom.” Perhaps whatever the hell was going on would get sorted out by the time he got back.

 

“Great idea, Iwa-chan! I’ll go too!”

 

“Hell no! That wasn’t an invitation,” he growled, trying to keep his voice to a minimum in the nice restaurant. Oikawa paid no mind and shooed him off towards the side where the bathrooms were. The atmosphere was awkward enough and Hajime really didn’t know Matsukawa all that well to make a scene in front of him, so he waited until they rounded the corner before lashing out.  _ “What the hell is going on?” _

 

“Shh, shh, shhh! If we’re not around they’ll be forced to talk to each other!” Oikawa said with as much glee as if he were observing the stupid magikarp in the lake. They had chosen a hiding spot behind a topiary that sat beside a partition.

 

“Why would you  _ force _ them to talk to each other, they hate each other.”

 

Oikawa looked over his shoulder at the denser-than-dirt gym leader. “Iwa-chan are you blind? They obviously  _ love _ each other.”

 

The scene at the dinner table told a different story. Hanamaki huffed and pretended to be very interested in the traffic on the streets below them. Beside him, Matsukawa fidgeted between sipping his water, tapping his fingertips on the tablecloth, and making quick glances towards Hanamaki’s direction, which the man could easily notice in the reflection of the window pane.

 

“So…” Matsukawa said slowly, to no reaction from Hanamaki, “…how long do you think they’ve been hooking up?”

 

That seemed to get his attention. Hanamaki glanced at him, curious but wary. “Who?”

 

“Rocky and Bullwinkle,” he answered in all seriousness, but Hanamaki already understood and his eyes widened the smallest fragment.

 

“You think they are?”

 

“Did either of them tell you what went down when they first met?” Matsukawa asked, a lone bushy eyebrow raised.

 

“No! Nothing much other than Iwaizumi obviously won their match…”

 

Matsukawa smirked at the memory. “Iwaizumi called Oikawa a  _ pretty boy _ and I’m fairly sure he’s been smitten ever since.”

 

“Now that you mention it, I think you can see it in his eyes, y’know?” Hanamaki agreed, leaning his elbow on the table and resting his cheek on his hand so he could comfortably face the man next to him. “Whenever Oikawa comes around the gym he just sorta looks at his face like he’s  _ lost in his eyes _ or whatever.”

 

“And then there’s the mornings where he sneaks across the lake to visit. He  _ says _ it’s to examine the wildlife, but he isn’t even wearing his wetsuit!”

 

“There’ve been several mornings where I had to drag Iwaizumi to the office because Oikawa’s at his house distracting him.” Hanamaki thought about it for a moment. “You know, I considered that too, but I don’t think they’re hooking up. I think they’re genuinely hanging out.”

 

Matsukawa gave him a face. He believed every word Hanamaki said, but it was more like a look of pity. “Shame. I bet it would’ve been a gorgeous wedding.”

 

“Imagine them living in a house together.” He nudged his elbow against Matsukawa’s arm. “One that you built. With an extra bedroom and a big front yard with a white picket fence.”

 

“They’d have beautiful children.”

 

“Now I’m imagining Oikawa cradling a squirtle in his arms.”

 

Matsukawa slammed his hand down on the table, not loud enough to cause a commotion, but enough to rattle the cups and the silverware. “It would be a travesty to let the opportunity go to waste. We have to do everything in our power to make sure Oikawa and Iwaizumi see they’re made for each other.”

 

“You realize they’re trying to hook  _ us _ up, right?”

 

“Then we’ll force them on some cheesy double dates.” Matsukawa reached to the end of the table where a small vase rested with a couple of purple flowers inside. He plucked one out and placed it behind Hanamaki’s ear. His other arm stretched around the back of the booth seat, effectively surrounding the other man. Matsukawa’s voice suddenly dipped low and soft. “Makki, my precious flower, my love… will you date me so that our mutual friends will hook up?”

 

Hanamaki tried his damndest to make sure the pigment of his face didn’t betray him. This was all fine, as long as it was all pretend. He attempted cool and suave, replying, “Mattsun, my morning dew, my everything… I thought you’d never ask.”

 

He placed his palm over Matsukawa’s hovering hand and noticed immediately how clammy it was. Hanamaki wanted to laugh, but he couldn’t. Matsukawa’s face was an endearing mixture of confused relief, tinged with embarrassment. Against all odds, Hanamaki was feeling exactly the same way.

 

“ _ Well! _ You two are getting awfully chummy!” Oikawa announced as he slid into the booth. Hajime followed, eyeing them a suspicious gaze. Hanamaki and Matsukawa pulled apart, but Matsukawa left his arm wrapped around his shoulders.

 

“We’re in love,” Matsukawa confessed, placing a small kiss atop Hanamaki’s head. The fair-haired man was just eating up the attention from his two friends. “We have a date tomorrow night.”

 

Hanamaki nodded. “We do.”

 

“At the Pine Spring’s Rayquaza Plaza.”

 

That was only the most exclusive restaurant in all the surrounding towns. Oikawa and Hajime both responded in twin astonished rising eyebrows. “That’s… a little classy for a first date,” Hanamaki laughed hesitantly. A little too much for just  _ pretend _ , too.

 

“Eh, you’re worth it.”

 

Hanamaki was fairly certain he heard rumors of that place being fifty dollars a plate for  _ appetizers _ . He also handled the gym’s payroll and knew for a  _ fact  _ that Hajime couldn’t afford a restaurant like that. He lowered his voice and muttered into Matsukawa’s ear,  _ “That’s too much for a double date.” _

 

Matsukawa grinned and whispered back,  _ “It’s not a double date.” _

 

Oh.

 

The flips in Hanamaki’s stomach were incredibly real as he sheepishly smiled and hid his grin behind his palm. Something about Matsukawa was admittedly charming, and it would be a cold day in hell before Hanamaki ever conceded to Oikawa that  _ maybe _ he was right all along.

 

The waitress came by to take their order.

 

“I’ll have the spaghetti and meatballs,” Oikawa said, with no hidden enthusiasm. Hajime gave him a look. What was he, twelve?

 

“I’ll… have what he’s having,” he said with a shrug, passing his and Oikawa’s menus to the waitress.

 

“We’re going to split the hamburg steak,” Hanamaki stated. Matsukawa’s smile looked like it could replace the sun. The waitress turned back to Oikawa and Hajime.

 

“And did you want to split your meal as well?”

 

Both men politely declined with no hidden look of mortification as Hanamaki and Matsukawa laughed until the server dropped off their complimentary breadsticks.

 

-

 

The following Monday afternoon found Hajime was having a difficult time debating if he should add his boldore to his official battle party or not when Hanamaki rolled in. His usual shift started a half hour ago, but since he spent his mornings at the quarry Hajime didn’t usually complain if he was a little late.

 

He came into the office wearing his usual white button-up shirt and slacks. It was business as usual until Hajime walked up to him to ask a question and noticed something… off.

 

The crisp white shirt was the same, the slacks were well-pressed as always, but the bite marks on his neck hidden under his starched shirt collar… those were new.

 

“So, you had a nice date?” Hajime asked. Hanamaki’s reaction was practiced cool indifference, like he’d been preparing for this. “I thought you hated him.”

 

Hanamaki turned to him with the filthiest, lecherous smile slowly spreading across his face. “Oh, I  _ loathe _ him.”

 

**~~~~~**

 

One afternoon, Hajime came into the offices after a particularly close defeat, tired and caked in dust, to find a bouquet of flowers on his desk.

 

“What the hell is this?” he asked. It was a colorful bouquet of blues and pinks. Hajime didn’t know a damn thing about flowers. “Hanamaki!”

 

He heard the sound of a rolling chair scooting out from under a desk and footsteps coming in from the hallway. “Yes, boss?”

 

“The hell is this?” He pointed his hands at the bright display, that seemed to counteract the neutral tans and greens of his office.

 

“Why, it’s lovely is what it is! Was there a note?”

 

“Why are you asking, I didn’t  _ put _ it there, dumbass. That would’ve been you.” Despite that, Hajime walked around the vase and inspected it. “No. No card.”

 

“Oh! It must be a secret admirer then!”

 

Hanamaki seemed uncharacteristically enthusiastic about this whole thing, more so than Hajime had ever witnessed in the six years they’d been friends. “Explain.”

 

“Well, canterbury bells mean  _ dependable, _ and that particular kind of rose stands for  _ capricious beauty _ , while the fern leaves symbolize sincere feelings, so the-”

 

“Stop,  _ stop _ \- Just. Did you do this?”

 

Hanamaki stuttered to find his words for a second. “W-what? No! Why would I-”

 

“Because the colors of these flowers are like, Buddy’s exact color scheme and I know he can’t produce flowers in any other shade than this.”

 

Hanamaki didn’t say anything.

 

“Did you give me these flowers?”

 

“……yes.”

 

Hajime shot a soft, mild glare before picking up the bouquet and moving it on top of his filing cabinet, out of the way but still in sight from his desk chair. “They’re lovely, thank you. The  _ capricious beauty _ part was a little weird though, cut that shit out.”

 

“Yes, boss.”

 

-

 

It had been a long week, and the only thing that made Hajime not want to ride his rhydon into the sunset and never return again was the fact that he and Oikawa had made plans to hang out that night. Not even the looming stormclouds that hid the mountain view could dampen his spirits.

 

“Knock-knock, Iwa-chan!” Oikawa beamed, standing in the doorway to Hajime’s office with a bag of beer in one hand and a friendly wave on the other.

 

During their mornings together, Oikawa wouldn’t stop talking about this documentary he really liked that had recently been released. “It’s about the migrant patterns of the ursaring, which is like whatever, but it’s actually  _ really _ entertaining and it has a lot of footage of river magikarp. They’re  _ slightly _ different from lake magikarp in that they’re a little longer to help them propel through the rapids during spawning season, which they show in the documentary, and it’s  _ really cool _ I can’t wait for you to see it.”

 

So plans were made, postponed, then penciled in, then erased, until finally they had a free moment between them to sit down and watch. Upon arriving and Hajime’s house, there was a mysterious package sitting at his doorstep. Rocky gave it a sniff test and seemed really interested about what was inside.

 

Hajime picked it up and looked at it from all sides. “There’s not a shipping label on it. Someone must’ve dropped it off…”

 

“What’s in it?”

 

Hajime unlocked the door and placed the box next to Oikawa’s bag on the dining table. He opened it up to reveal a jar, a paper bag, and a CD jewel case. He took the jar out first.

 

“An aromatherapy candle?” he said. The label read  _ Sultry Nights _ and had a woman in a negligee lying on a bed of satin sheets. He popped the lid off and sniffed it. “It’s jasmine.”

 

Oikawa reached in and pulled out the paper bag. It was stamped with the logo of an expensive heritage candy shop and bakery from Pine Springs. Oikawa peeled the bag’s seal and took one of the candies out. “…Chocolate covered cherries?”

 

Lastly, Hajime pulled out the CD and they looked at it together. It was decorated with marker drawings of stars and hearts, and written across the front it read  _ Slow Jams _ .

 

“That’s how Mattsun sometimes draws his S’s,” Oikawa pointed out.

 

Hajime hastily stuffed the CD and the candle back in the box, but hesitated on the candies. “You wanna eat those?” he asked. In the back of his mind, he made a mental note to strangle Matsukawa and Hanamaki the next time they were at the office.

 

Oikawa seemed to waffle. “Well, I probably  _ shouldn’t _ , but of course I do.”

 

“Then we’ll split it.”

 

The documentary was only an hour and a half long, but Oikawa talked throughout the entire thing, sometimes pausing to elaborate on information he wished the video had expounded on. He was quick to point out facts the video didn’t cover, quizzed Hajime about his pokémon knowledge, and went into detail about how the scale pattern for river magikarp was different than lake and saltwater magikarp because of the currents.

 

Normally Hajime wouldn’t give two shits about the pattern of magikarp’s scales or the difference between freshwater and saltwater species, but the way Oikawa’s face lit up when he talked about it made it seem almost tolerable.

 

Hajime blindly reached in the bag for another chocolate and accidently bumped Oikawa’s hand that was reaching for one as well. Curiously, he could tell his face was blushing, but thanks to the dim lighting and the nighttime shots on the documentary, it was difficult to tell. “Go ahead,” he mumbled.

 

“You’re being so nice, Iwa-chan! Should I be worried?” he laughed, reaching in and pulling out a candy with a sad face. “Oh. It’s the last one…”

 

“You can eat it.”

 

“We could share it?”

 

The chocolates had a gooey, liqueur-filled center that would be disastrous if they tried to break it in half. “I don’t mind. Take it.”

 

“Iwa-chan, so kind,” he cooed, popping the last chocolate in his mouth before making a muffled grunt and pointing at the screen. “Fith ith mah fafrot paht!”

 

Hajime was barely able to parse that sentence as he looked at the screen. It showed the pack of ursaring trying to bat at the magikarp swimming upstream. One of the fish bounced off of a bear’s long forearm and slapped it a couple times in the face with its tailfin before landing back in the water.

 

“He reminds me of you,” Oikawa chuckled.

 

Not one to take insults lightly, Hajime elbowed Oikawa in the side, who elbowed him back, and they both continued returning the favor until they got tired of struggling and calmed down. Oikawa’s arm was draped across Hajime’s stomach, and Hajime’s arm wrapped awkwardly around Oikawa’s shoulders.

 

The closeness wasn’t lost on either of them. Hajime’s heartbeat wouldn’t mollify no matter what emotional bargaining he tried. Rocky laid happily smothered against Oikawa’s stomach, the man looking down and rubbing her tummy and basically spoiling her rotten.

 

“I can’t believe you compared me to that ursaring…” he muttered softly. Oikawa almost missed it over a segment about pidgeotto mating calls. He starting laughing uncontrollably. Hajime didn’t think he’d even seen Oikawa laugh so hard, it was distracting. The man gasped for breath as he settled, curling against Hajime and using his chest as a pillow. The circulation to his arm still felt cut off, but Hajime found reprieve in lowering his arm closer around Oikawa. The man sighed pleasantly.

 

“…Thank you,” he whispered.

 

Hajime wasn’t sure if he was supposed to hear that or not, but he answered anyway. “Why?”

 

“I… know I can be difficult to deal with sometimes…”

 

“When have you  _ ever _ been difficult to deal with?”

 

Oikawa struggled for a moment and turned on his side to look up at Hajime’s face, wearing a baffled expression. “I started a battle with you in the first five minutes I met you.” Hajime shrugged his shoulders. “I wake you up super early every morning.”

 

“Well it’s either you or the dog waking me up at six AM, I don’t really care either way.”

 

“I ruined your view by building my training center on the lake.”

 

“It’s not…  _ so _ bad…”

 

“I talk about magikarp. Like, a lot.”

 

Hajime paused. “Yeah. That’s the dealbreaker.” He pulled his arms away and held his hands up in the air. “You should go home. Movie night’s cancelled.”

 

“Iwa-chan, no!” Oikawa laughed, but was cut short by a bright flash from outside and possibly the loudest clap of thunder the man had ever heard. It shook the pictures hanging on the walls of the house and rattled the windows. The lamps flickered a moment before giving up entirely, losing the light from the television and blotting out the room in inky darkness lit only by the occasional flashes from outside. Oikawa visibly flinched at the commotion but Hajime remained just as poised as ever, even though Rocky wouldn’t stop barking.

 

Out of instinct, Hajime wrapped his arms a little tighter around Oikawa. “It’s just thunder.”

 

_ “It sounds like an exploud! _ What the hell?” Oikawa held Rocky close to calm her down, to calm the  _ both _ of them down. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and she mellowed. Hajime looked down at them, only slightly jealous that Oikawa seemed to have this  _ magic touch _ with his dog to make her quiet when she would normally bark for hours.

 

“Mn. The mountains ricochet sound so the thunder tends to sound worse than it really is.”

 

The noise had shifted Oikawa so he was no longer laying on top of Hajime. He missed the contact, but used to break to stand and stretch. He opened up the bay window curtains and, indeed, the rain had already begun and it was pouring heavily outside. There was another flash of lightning and Hajime made out the faint shape of a lapras on the water’s edge.

 

“Is that Mizuki out there?”

 

Oikawa nodded. “She’s fine, she doesn’t really like being in her pokéball. When there’s storms she usually likes to play in the choppy waves of the beach, but I guess she’ll have to settle for lake water.” She seemed to be having the time of her life, happily stretching her neck upward and collecting rainwater in her mouth.

 

“You leave her out there a lot?”

 

The man shrugged. “That’s where she’s spent every night since I got here. The hotel pool has chlorine in it so that’s not good for her… Although, I haven’t had enough time to really explore the area. There were records in the maps at Pine Springs’ library about there being underground sources to the mountain springs that feed down into the lake, but it wasn’t incredibly detailed. I’m interested in how big they are, although I don’t think Mizuki-chan could fit, even if she wanted to.”

 

He was rambling again, but Hajime didn’t mind so much. He never thought much about the lake, even though he lived here his whole life. Perhaps the magikarp weren’t as inbred as he thought. “So do you think the magikarp swim through the underground springs to mate?”

 

Oikawa’s face lit up like the top of Lumiose City Gym that he’d only ever seen in pictures. It was almost like they didn’t need electricity in the blackout. But still, a flashlight or a candle would be helpful. Hajime always kept a matchbook in his backpack, and for once he was thankful for the stupid gift that Hanamaki had given him still in the paper bag on the table. Oikawa’s words spilled out enthusiastically while Hajime went to fetch his bag by the door.

 

“That’s one of the things I want to research! I bet the scene is gorgeous – hundreds of magikarp swimming through crystal clear, pure waters of secret underground caverns unseen by man! Would you go with me?”

 

The sudden and enthusiastic invitation caught Hajime off guard. “Of course,” he replied. “I bet there’s a bunch of cool bug pokémon under there.” He pulled the matchbook from his bag and made his way towards the kitchen table.

 

“Eww! Iwa-chan, you like bug-types?”

 

Oikawa was too far away to reprimand with the flick to the ear so Hajime settled for a stern look. “Some of my best friends are metapods.”

 

“Iwa-chan~ so cool~”

 

Hajime rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the scented candle. “You’re not allergic to jasmine, are you?”

 

“I find it quite pleasant!”

 

So Hajime struck a match and lit the candle. It was a big glass jar of wax that would probably last for several hours. He moved back towards the living room and placed it on the coffee table. It wasn’t much, but Hajime was able to get back to the bay window without stubbing his toes on any furniture. There were some small flickers of lightning, but nothing close enough to cause as loud of a clamor as before. It was still raining pretty steadily. He watched as the giant lapras dove underwater and then splashed out like a wailord.

 

“So… she’ll be okay out there overnight?”

 

“She’s survived typhoons, she can handle a light sprinkle.”

 

There was another loud clap of thunder. Rocky jerked and whimpered, but Oikawa held onto her tight, whispering soothing things into her fur and kissing her head until she stopped panting.

 

“Good, because you’re not going out in that.”

 

“I’m not?”

 

Once Hajime was convinced Mizuki would be okay, he closed the curtains.

 

“I doubt you brought your wetsuit with you. I don’t mind. You can sleep in my bed.”

 

It didn’t sound weird in his head, but once the words were spoken and sunk in, Oikawa’s face turned bright red and he started to stammer and look everywhere except at Hajime’s equally embarrassed face.

 

“I- I don’t-”

 

“The couch! I’d sleep on the  _ couch! _ …Dumbass.”

 

Even though it made sense and Oikawa understood, they both couldn’t fight the obvious awkwardness that had grown between them. “The couch is fine for me, honestly.”

 

Hajime couldn’t argue. He’d taken enough naps on the thing to know it was incredibly comfortable. “You’re sure?”

 

“I’m positive.”

 

Hajime tried to think if he had any spare linens other than the throw blanket on the back of the couch. He disappeared into his bedroom for a moment and returned with the quilt from his bed and one of his personal pillows.

 

“Iwa-chan, I’m upset you don’t have a pair of spare pajamas for your guests!” He had started unbuttoning his collared shirt so he could sleep in his cozier white undershirt.

 

Hajime made the adult decision to lob the pillow at Oikawa’s head. “Be thankful that I’m being this nice,” he said, unfolding the quilt haphazardly on the couch cushions. He covered Rocky up, but she didn’t seem to mind. Seeing that she had chosen to sleep with Oikawa reminded him of something.

 

He started taking off his shirt.

 

“ _ Iwa-chan I was just joking-” _

 

“This isn’t for you,” he dragged, reaching under the quilt to pull Rocky off of the couch. She wasn’t exactly heavy, but Hajime seemed to toss her in the air like she was a bag of leaves. Oikawa watched as he swaddled her in the shirt he was wearing and mumbled to her softly. “I’m sleeping with my door open in case you change your mind and want to sleep in your bed or mine. There’s fresh water in your bowl. Don’t wake up Oikawa-nii by squirming too much, okay?” She agreed by licking the tip of his nose.

 

Hajime deposited the dog back on the couch while Oikawa sat there, flabbergasted.

 

“…What?”

 

“Nothing! Nothing.”

 

Hajime raised a brow. “Do  _ you _ need water before going to bed?”

 

Oikawa dove face-first into Hajime’s pillow and refused to look back up. “Nope! I’m great! Ready for sleeping!”

 

“Okay. I’m going in my room, then. Don’t keep Rocks up too late with gossip.” He turned off the lights that he knew were left on so when the electricity eventually returned, Oikawa wouldn’t be blinded by the brightness. He was almost out of the living room when he heard Oikawa say something.

 

“Actually… there is something that I need… er, want…”

 

“What’s that?”

 

There was a brief moment of quiet while Oikawa gathered his courage. “…Tooru. It’s okay if you call me just Tooru.”

 

Thank god Hajime was far enough away from the candle so Oika- so  _ Tooru _ couldn’t see how his face blew up. He cleared his throat and found he couldn’t even face the general direction of the couch anymore.

 

“Okay. I’ll remember that from now on.”

 

He turned to continue on into his bedroom but stopped when he heard the blankets suddenly shuffle. “This is the part where you respond with  _ ‘You can call me Hajime’ _ or something like that!” Tooru complained.

 

Hajime almost balked. The only people who really ever called him that were his mother and old people. It wasn’t that he didn’t  _ want _ Tooru to call him by his given name, it’s just he already had an affectionate nickname from him, one that only Tooru was allowed to use.

 

“…I like the other one fine.”

 

A quick bolt of a lightning lit up Tooru’s eager face as he sat up on the couch. “What was-”

 

“ _ Goodnight, Oikawa!” _ he yelled, wishing he could slam his bedroom door but keeping the promise he made to Rocky in mind. Instead he pulled up on his sheets and tried to bury himself under the covers, hidden away from the world.

 

_ “Goodnight, Iwa-chan!” _

 

-

 

The next morning Hajime woke up to the smell of pancakes and the sizzling sound of bacon that had just been placed on the pan. Hajime didn’t know he even had bacon. Tooru was muttering to himself, and he wondered if he was taking a call. He shuffled to the end of the hallway wearing his pajama bottoms and socks and stood in the entryway.

 

Tooru was standing in the kitchen, hair an absolute mess, talking to Rocky about his day’s schedule. “I need to start hiring my staff soon. Do you know anybody who’s good with water-type pokémon, Rocky-san?” She woofed in response, more focused on the bacon than on Tooru. “Oh! I never considered that! Rocky-san, you’re so wise!” She woofed again, both of them completely unaware that Hajime had woken up.

 

The whole scene left Hajime with a pleasant, floating feeling in his stomach, and a thought that brought a small smile to his face as he entered the kitchen to make his presence known.

 

_ I could get used to this… _

 

**~~~~~**

 

Process on Tooru’s facility suddenly seemed to pick up speed. Now that the exterior was completed, the interiors needed work, which meant Tooru’s dedicated attention was needed elsewhere. It was more common than not for Hajime to wake up these mornings to an empty lake and breakfast alone with Rocky.

 

She had gotten so used to the routine of going to the bay window to greet him every morning that she would wait on the window seat for Hajime to pull back the curtain. He always did, but once she realized Tooru wasn’t there, she would get bored and leave.

 

Every once in awhile his Pokédex would buzz.

 

**_[From Tooru 07:15:33]: Which one? [Image Attached]_ **

 

And Hajime would see a picture of two paint samples on the wall that were essentially the same shade of blue.

 

**_[Sent 07:17:09]: i dont see a difference._ **

 

And then Tooru would spend the next half hour while Hajime shaved and got dressed to berate Hajime about the difference between “ebbtide” blue and “ocean seas” blue. It was a fun distraction, but hardly the same as his actual presence.

 

Hajime felt like he lost a friend, somehow, and took his feelings out on the lake by sighing heavily at it during breaks between battles. He didn’t even bother that Rocky was giving a nearby flock of murkrow greif.

 

“Y’know, far be it from me to be up front about emotions, but I think you’ve got it bad.”

 

Hanamaki walked up beside him and joined Hajime in staring wistfully at the training facility across the water. The building looked beautiful, and suddenly Hajime understood why Tooru complained about the shoddiness of the gym’s hangar all those months ago. The entire side of the facility facing the lake was covered in prismatic panes of glass born from different types of sand, giving it blue and green tints that reflected the sunset gorgeously.

 

Somewhere in that facility was Hanamaki’s boyfriend and Hajime’s… somebody.

 

“Got what bad?” he asked. “All he does is talk about magikarp spawning rituals or dratini lore or… I dunno, the reaction of different breeds of tentacool in different saline levels or something.”

 

Hanamaki hummed. “He keeps you wondering. He teaches you things. That’s important.”

 

Hajime didn’t say anything right away, instead noticing the murkrow that were playing with Rocky starting to fly away, spinning around in lazy, predatory circles not far off. Hajime felt a pang of unease.

 

“Like I would ever give a damn about a water-type loser like that.” He had started striving off towards the murkrows before he even finished his sentence. Some of them had started dipping down. There was something on the shore of the lake.

 

Hajime let out a shrill whistle to get his iwanko’s attention. “Rocks! Scatter!” he said, pointing to a small black cloud of cawing feathers hovering just above the sand. Rocky took off like a shot and catapulted herself towards the murkrow, yipping madly along the way.

 

Most of the murkrow flew away in a panic, but some of the older, stronger ones remained. They started picking at her, and she tried a few quick attacks, but it was lost on their speed. Hajime got close enough to see what the commotion was about.

 

Another beached magikarp. This one looked  _ bad _ .

 

He watched as Rocky tried her hardest to fend off several murkrow at once. She kept getting blindsided from behind, but she was at least able to draw their attention away. Hajime was impressed that she was trying her best to make sure the birds didn’t get anywhere near her friend.

 

While she had them distracted, Hajime kneeled down and looked at the damage. Its tailfin was almost completely ripped to shreds. Enough of the scales on its side had been picked away to reveal a delicate ribcage stained in red.

 

“ _ Woah! _ ” Hanamaki cried upon jogging up to Hajime’s side. “Gross, dude. Why don’t you leave it?”

 

Normally Hajime would. A part of him believed that pokémon should follow their instincts, and if that meant hunting and providing for their families, that was simply how it worked out.

 

But this was different. He recognized this magikarp. He recognized the old scars on its gills and eye. Somehow, the scabbed, half-closed gill on its side still throbbed with each deep breath the panicked fish sucked in.

 

“Hanamaki! Potion!” he shouting, trying to keep a level head. Trying not to let this get the better of him. It’s just a magikarp. It’s just a dumb fish.

 

“I’ve got exactly one potion on me, but I don’t think it’ll cut it…” He handed Hajime the small purple can anyway. Hajime ripped the tab off with his teeth and sprayed the cooling gel over the worst of his side, but it wasn’t enough. This would require a hyper potion, maybe even a revive. It seemed to keep the worst at bay while the murkrow grew bothered by Rocky and fluttered off.

 

He found himself softly rubbing his thumb against the uninjured face of the magikarp between the eyes, trying to instill sensation and distract it from the pain of its lower half as the potion slowly helped it mend. He turned his head towards Hanamaki, a panicked pallor stark against his normally tanned skin.

 

“I need something that knows Surf,” he muttered.

 

Hanamaki had been around for a handful of Hajime’s interactions with this magikarp in particular. Although he didn’t entirely understand, he knew that it must mean  _ something _ to his best friend to save this pathetic creature.

 

“I’m so sorry, I don’t…” No. Wait a minute. “…I  _ do. _ ” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his Pokédex. Hajime looked a bit more hopeful as he held the magikarp closer. “Hold on a sec, I need to make a transfer with my box online.” Hanamaki held a pokéball in his other hand as he tapped through various menus with his other. A moment passed. “Okay, man. I got your hookup. Go, Kiddo!”

 

He tossed the pokéball a safe distance away and revealed… a gogoat.

 

Hajime blinked his eyes. He realized he hadn’t blinked in a while. They were soggy with tears. “Makki, that’s a gogoat.”

 

“Now, I know what you’re thinking. You need a quick ride across the lake to get to Oikawa.” Hanamaki, the mind reader, patted the fluffy green brush growing around Kiddo’s shoulders. “And I’m saying she’s your best bet.”

 

“That’s a grass-type goat.”

 

Hanamaki made a face. “And I thought cross-type moves for pokémon was like  _ your shit _ . Kiddo got me through Hurricane Suicune twelve years ago when my neighborhood flooded, she can get you across a placid lake.” The gogoat was kneeled and ready to pick Hajime up. Rocky had already understood and was standing with her front paws on Kiddo’s antlers, panting impatiently.

 

Understandably, Hajime was wary about letting a cloven-hooved pokémon carry them across the lake, but once he got on its back and Hanamaki gave it directions, he discovered that a gogoat’s body was as buoyant as a piece of driftwood. She used her ability to Surf to project them across the water with minimal splashing. The discomfort of his lower half being soaked through with lake water came second to his careful grip on the magikarp's body. Hajime even noted the other magikarp in the lake clearing the path ahead, but following closely in worry of their fallen kin.

He scooped water in his palm as they moved, sprinkling it lightly over the wounded magikarp’s scales. The potion seemed to be just barely working, slightly holding the skin together in a desperate plea to keep it from bleeding out. The fish’s feeble splashing in Hajime’s arms meant it couldn’t swim if he tried to release it back into the wild. It needed proper medical attention.

 

“Iwa-chan!”

 

His head lifted at the sound of his name. Tooru was standing at the edge of a newly built dock outside of the facility, waving his arm madly. Hanamaki must have called ahead and explained everything. He had seen Tooru in everything from a wetsuit to a business suit, but he had never seen him dressed like this – a slightly oversized tee shirt and jogging shorts smeared with “ocean seas” blue paint, with a crisp white lab coat hastily thrown over. There were two other people Hajime didn’t recognize standing behind him in similar outfits of disarray, one holding a large, flat tub with some water in it and the other holding a first aide kit.

 

No other words were spoken. Tooru took the magikarp from Hajime’s outstretched hands, face paling at the damage done. The woman holding the tub placed it on the dock and Tooru carefully placed the pokémon inside. It was too weak to even flop its way out, despite its obvious discomfort.

 

“Get it to the healing pool,” he told the woman. The three of them started walking into the facility, the young man holding the first aide kit following closely behind as Tooru continued issuing commands. “Get Max Revives from the locker and dissolve it in the pool, one for every ten gallons. I’m going to get Mattsun’s slowbro to perform Heal Pulse for it.”

 

Tooru already whipped out his Pokédex to shoot out a message to Matsukawa, but by that point they were out of earshot and Hajime remained on Kiddo’s back in the shallow end of the lake. Sighing deeply, Hajime let his head rest against one of the large wooden support beams of the dock. Rocky was getting antsy being so close to the water, so Hajime picked her up and placed her on the dock’s surface.

 

“Thank you so much,” he said to Kiddo, ruffling the bramble around her shoulders and neck. He hoisted himself up on dock beside Rocky. For a moment, he was stunned by all the magikarp that had followed them on their journey. “You should probably go back to your trainer, now.”

 

Kiddo loudly bleated in assent as it backpedaled off the shallow waters and started its journey to the opposite shore. The magikarp parted for her, but stayed by the dock and stared vacantly at Hajime as they continued splashing madly. Hajime was used to talking to his pokémon and having them understand him. He never tried with magikarp, because they always seemed so stupid, but now he wondered if he was mistaken. They may not understand speech as well, but their instinct told them something was wrong. Hajime wished he had a better means of communicating with them.

 

“Your friend was badly hurt, but this place will make them feel better… I hope…” Some of the magikarp jumped in ways that explicitly read as ‘joy’, while others apprehensively swayed their bodies side-to-side. Hajime hummed. So they had personalities, that was interesting. “Are they important to you?”

 

The wounded magikarp had to have meant something to this school of magikarp. It was much bigger than any of the others by the dock. They had started splashing even wilder at Hajime’s question. Rocky wagged her tail by the edge of the dock, softly releasing little ruffs towards them as her means of communication. Hajime wondered if she was having better luck communicating with them than he was.

 

As much as he wanted to go inside the facility, he didn’t want to get his muddy footprints everywhere and stain the nice new building. He took his boots and socks off, along with his shirt to let them dry in the mid-afternoon sun. The magikarp tickled his toes that dangled off the edge.

 

The action had faded, and two hours passed, but the magikarp still remained swimming in lazy paths while they waited for news. Hajime hadn’t realized he’d dozed off until a shadow, too dark and quick to be a cloud, hid the sun from his eyes.

 

“Makki was right, you do lose your shirt a lot.” Hajime hastily sat up, grabbing his dry shirt and pulling it back on. “Please don’t tell me you’ve been baking in the sun all afternoon,” Tooru sighed, his once-crisp lab coat now sullied with the dyes of various potions and revives, and- was that blood?

 

“Is it okay?” he asked, standing and trying not to look too desperate.

 

Tooru sighed, and suddenly Hajime felt even worse. There were bags under his eyes and Hajime could only imagine the other man had been awake bright and early to work on his facility, only to be called away by a sudden emergency. This was supposed to be a training and learning facility for water-type pokémon, Hajime didn’t even know if they were even equipped to handle stuff like this.

 

“He’s… stable. The revives kept him breathing while the potions mended. The heal pulse was only able to regrow half of his tailfin, I don’t… I can’t say for certain if it will be able to swim normally again.”

 

Hajime frowned and looked down at the dock. “What does that mean?”

 

“It means, I can’t guarantee he’ll be able to be released back into the wild.”

 

This magikarp had been following him around for years since he returned to Quarry Town. It was hard to remember a moment in his life that wasn’t somehow bookended by tossing that damn fish back into the lake again.

 

Tooru seemed to sense his distress and opened up his arms. “C’mere, Iwa-chan. You look exhausted.”

 

Hajime gave him a look. “You’re like a hundred times more tired looking than me.”

 

He sighed loudly and pinched his eyes shut. “Then just-  _ come over here _ and let me hug you.”

 

It was easier to fall into Tooru’s arms than he could have ever imagined. Hajime buried his face into his shoulder and felt his arms wrap tightly around him.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Tooru muttered into his neck.

 

Hajime reached his arms up and wrapped them around Tooru’s middle, not so much hugging him as crushing him in return. “You were amazing. Thank you so much.”

 

Tooru found himself reaching his hand upwards, briefly running his fingers through Hajime’s short, choppy hair. He had to make this contact last. Who knew when he would be this close to him again.

 

When they pulled away, his face was beet red and his eyes watered slightly. “Can I just ask one question?” Hajime stared blankly up at him. “Why didn’t you ever catch him? Bonds between man and pokémon like that are rare… Why would you just throw that away?”

 

Without a doubt, Hajime acknowledged that his relationship with this particular magikarp was…  _ special _ . But as far as bonds go, he always got along well with his party members, even before he caught them. Rocky followed him home one day, Cliff cuddled up to him at the daycare center, he woke up a female nidoran snuggling up against him one night when he slept under the stars, and even the larvitar that eventually became his tyranitar was adopted from a shelter.

 

Tooru kept talking. “It’s just- Mizuki-chan tends to ignore me half the time. She hates being in her pokéball so I’ll sometimes let her roam the lake waters and I won’t see her for  _ days. _ And I swear my poliwrath gives me the meanest looks, it’s unsettling. Getting all my gym badges was a nightmare. I’m  _ horrible _ at bonding with them, so I pretty much resigned myself to teaching about them…”

 

Hajime pulled away so he could look Tooru in the eyes, not sure if he was joking or not. “Poliwraths always look like they’re in the middle of a painful shit, that’s just their face.”

 

Tooru gave him a deadpan expression and flicked the space between his brows softly. “You would know, wouldn’t you?”

 

He knocked Tooru’s hand aside and stepped back, turning to face the magikarp. “To answer your question… I never caught him because he never  _ needed _ to be caught. I had no reason to keep him in my party when I was too busy with other things.  _ Catching them all _ was never my prerogative, so I let him be.”

 

The magikarp hanging out by the dock were still swimming in vague circles in the shallow waters, soaking up some warmth. “Besides,” Hajime continued, “when I spoke with them, they made it seem like that magikarp was their leader. Who was I to separate him from the pack?”

 

Tooru walked to the edge of the dock and noticed all the magikarp swimming there. He glanced between the school and the man next to him. “Wait. You  _ spoke _ to them?”

 

“Well! I mean… I asked them a question and they responded, so I just assumed…” Hajime’s face was bright with embarrassment. He didn’t want to be known as a  _ magikarp whisperer _ or anything.

 

Tooru took his words to heart as he crouched by the water and reached his hand down, open palm facing the lake’s surface. Whenever a magikarp got close, it would swim slightly upward so its back would grace Tooru’s palm. “You know, I often think that people don’t give magikarp enough credit.” He looked over his shoulder and gave Hajime a soft smile. “It makes me happy to see you changing your mind about them.”

 

Hajime chose not to dignify that with a response. “So, can I see him now?”

 

“He’s sleeping currently,” Tooru replied, standing and wiping his hand on his labcoat. “I recommend waiting until tomorrow, if you still wanna make the trip out.”

 

His answer came almost too quickly. “Of course I’ll be here tomorrow! I mean. If I can find a ride.” Even if he couldn’t, his rhydon could carry him around the lake.

 

“Don’t mind. I’ll send Mizuki-chan to be your chauffeur!” Tooru said, all too happy to offer. His grin widened. “I was in such a rush earlier I almost missed it, but was Iwa-chan riding on the back of Makki-chan’s gogoat?”

 

Hajime was sure he looked ridiculous and didn’t even want to think about it. “Just send your lapras over! It’ll be fine!”

 

“Iwa-chan’s embarrassed.”

 

“I am not!”

 

**~~~~~**

 

Over the course of three weeks, Hajime would wake up to Mizuki tactfully Bubble-Beaming his bedroom window at five in the morning. He would ride out to the training facility to meet Tooru and check up on the magikarp. For the time being, he was kept in a small tank that didn’t allow for much movement. He couldn’t keep his balance while swimming with the missing half of his tailfin, so he seemed to struggle trying to simply stay upright. Hajime worried for the little guy’s future.

 

“He’s not going to get any better, is he?” Hajime asked, watching one of Tooru’s assistants get sopping wet by the splashing as she tried to teach the magikarp to swim in a straight line.

 

“I’ve come up with a couple different solutions, but none of them are cheap or simple. We could attempt to make a prosthetic fin, but the cost would be too great, and we’d have to tag him and intercept him constantly for repairs and maintenance. There’s a theory I’ve been working on, but it’s too dangerous.” Tooru walked over to the computer near the therapy pool. “There’s a third option, finding a recently deceased magikarp and play Frankenstein with it, but that’s not my wheelhouse and honestly not the direction I want to go.”

 

None of those options seemed like they would work in the long run. Hajime wondered how the school of magikarp was getting along without their leader. There had certainly been less making their way to shallow waters, and the murkrows stopped hovering around waiting for fresh catches.

 

They had decided to continue on with the original plan of teaching the magikarp how to use muscles previously untapped to swim with its new handicap. He was making good progress, albeit slow, and soon he graduated to a netted-off portion of the lake just for him to receive private swimming lessons from Tooru himself. When he wasn’t too busy, of course.

 

Tooru sloshed thigh-deep in the clear lake water wearing his wetsuit, trying to get the magikarp balanced. The next big hurdle was teaching it to swim with currents. Hajime stood near the edge beside Rocky, observing.

 

“You really think he’ll be all right?” Hajime asked warily, watching Tooru try for what seemed like the twentieth time to correct the magikarps posture from tipping over sideways after swimming a lap.

 

“He’s doing great! I don’t know what you’re talking about!” he grunted as he held the giant fish in both arms, repositioning it. He squawked and fell over dramatically, causing a big splash. Finally, Tooru was able to get him to paddle in a straight line. He rewarded him by pulling out a small treat from a zipper pouch and tossing it into his gaping mouth.

 

“What was that?” Hajime asked.

 

The magikarp was safe inside the netted-off area, so Tooru waded out of the lake and held up the baggie so Hajime could see. “I made these little candies,” he said proudly. Hajime got a good look at the orange treats. “I formulated them especially for a lake magikarp’s diet! They provide essential vitamins and minerals needed to help boost his defensives. His immune system took a hit during the attack, so the candies help give him a little  _ oomph _ .”

 

“That’s amazing. You created these?”

 

“Well, with some help from my assistants. Supplements aren’t really my specialty, but I helped construct something that specifically catered to our friend’s needs.” Tooru was still proud, and with good reason. He looked back out at the magikarp, trying his best to swim on his own.

 

“You know, you say that a lot. That things aren’t your specialty or your wheelhouse, but you still end up doing all these amazing things.”

 

A small satisfied blush worked its way onto Tooru’s face. “Well… you know how the saying goes–  _ jack of all trades, master of none, though oftentimes better than master of one _ .”

 

Hajime took that into consideration. “But I think it’s important not to belittle yourself, either. You have a lot of good points.”

 

Tooru sent him a side-eyed smirk. “Thanks, Iwa-chan. Maybe follow your own advice too.” He took Hajime’s wrist and turned his palm upward, placing one of the candies in his hand. “You wanna give him a treat?”

 

“…I don’t want to get wet.” He was visiting on his lunch break and didn’t want to change when he got back.

 

“Oh my god, Iwa-chan! Knee-deep water is  _ not _ getting wet!” He shooed him towards the lake. “Go feed that fish a candy! I’m sure it’d mean the world to him, coming from you!”

 

Hajime returned the order with a weak glare before he kicked off his sandals and started slowly getting in the water. The magikarp nearly lost it when it realized it was Hajime that had entered the lake and not Tooru. It started splashing madly, even jumping out of the water, and getting Hajime completely soaked.

 

“He’s never jumped that high!” Tooru gasped in reverence. “This is astounding! I wish I brought my camera…”

 

Hajime had just about enough. “Stop moving for a damn second so I can give you a treat,” he spat, and the magikarp instantly stilled and popped it’s face out of the water, smiling broadly. He flicked the treat in his general direction, and the magikarp twisted his body perfectly to catch it mid-air.

 

“That little brat!” Tooru commented from the shore. “He never moves like that when I’m dealing with him…”

 

Hajime never had much of a bonding moment with the magikarp when it wasn’t trying to kill itself by jumping out of the water to get to him. He tried to copy Tooru’s actions by petting him softly with the flat of his palm while he ate his snack.

 

Then he started glowing.

 

It started with a soft flicker on some of its scales, but Hajime couldn’t be certain it wasn’t the sunlight reflecting off the water. The light became so bright so suddenly that it burned Hajime’s eyes before he could look away. The water surrounding the fish started to bubble like it was boiling, but Hajime was standing  _ right _ there, and it was just as cold as always.

 

“What’s h-”

 

_ “HAJIME, GET DOWN!” _

 

A strong grip took hold of Hajime’s arm and pulled him out of the water. Tooru was dragging him to the thick treeline by the waterfront, Rocky in his other hand, but Hajime was in awe of what he was seeing. The magikarp shown brightly in the water, and it was growing steadily up and out. The net was destroyed. The air was filled with the loud, almost painful-sounding shriek reverberating off the mountains louder than any thunder from any storm Hajime had ever witnessed.

 

Tooru threw them behind a tree and joined Hajime in gawking at history as it unfolded. A burst of sudden wind shook the branches and kicked up dirt and debris. The noise didn’t stop as the glowing oblong shape that used to be a magikarp grew into a stunning three-stories-tall behemoth.

 

“It’s evolving! It’s evolving?” Hajime questioned, turning to Tooru who was watching with panicked eyes.

 

“It’s evolving,” he confirmed.

 

Rocky scrambled into Hajime’s arms and he shielded her eyes into his chest to protect from debris. “What the  _ hell _ was in that candy you fed it?!”

 

“Nothing! Just some krill and vitamins– Oh, do  _ not _ blame this on me! I told you it liked you, it probably got so excited that you paid it a lick of attention that it freaked out and evolved!”

 

“You know how I feel about forced evolution! You should have warned me!”

 

“If you had caught the damn thing when it was throwing itself at you this never would have happened!”

 

One by one, the scales stopped glowing and what remained was a brilliant, lustrous red coat of arms on the biggest gyarados either man had ever seen. The magnificent pokémon appeared confused at first, blinking slowly with his large, angry eyes and looking around at his surroundings. It let out a booming cry as it wiggled towards deeper waters.

 

“What’s wrong with it?” Hajime asked. “Aren’t they supposed to be blue? Hey, should we call someone for backup? I thought gyarados were supposed to be extremely violent?” He looked beside him and noticed Tooru’s pale complexion. “Tooru?”

 

“I’m  _ thinking _ ,” he snapped, eyes unfocused as his mind bulleted through possible scenarios. He whipped out his Pokédex and pointed it at the ginormous creature.

 

_ [Gyarados - a dual-type water and flying pokémon - With its large fangs and vicious temperament, the gyarados has been known to rampage for weeks on end. Note: This gyarados shows levels are higher than average. Do not approach and contact the nearest gym-class or Rank-S trainers immediately.] _

 

Hajime released a deep breath. “Well, that’s us.”

 

“I left my pokémon in my office…” His eyes twitched to the lake water surrounding the gyarados. “And Mizuki-chan’s out there somewhere…” Tooru nervously tapped his fingers against his lips as he tried coming up with solutions. Hajime could tell he was debating if he had the time to run to his desk and grab his belt of occupied pokéballs he’d foolishly left behind. “Can’t use electric attacks, the other lake pokémon could get hurt… Grass-based attacks won’t reach that far…”

 

“What about rock-based attacks?” Hajime had those in spades. “It’s strong against flying and neutral against water.”

 

Tooru glanced back at the gyarados, which had started splashing around the waves in a frenzy. “In a stadium battle, maybe… There’s no way to get a rock type out there that wouldn’t sink to the bottom of the lake.”

 

“A boat.”

 

“We are  _ not _ taking one of my boats out there. And one water-based attack from him and your pokémon are finished  _ and _ we would probably drown.”

 

The gyarados was a strange breed that Hajime wasn’t completely familiar with. He’d only seen one in person once in his travels, and it was during a match he was watching, so he didn’t even get to battle it head on. He loved raising pokémon with hidden moves, but battling them in the wild was a whole different headache.

 

Headache.

 

“What about psychic-based attacks?” Hajime asked. “It can cause status effects and we could subdue him that way!”

 

Tooru seemed uncertain. Status-based attacks were a good idea in theory, but the odds of those effects actually sticking and causing damage were rare. “What’ve you got?”

 

Luckily Hajime still had all his gym pokémon on him. He released his tyranitar, who honed in on the gyarados immediately after appearing. Hajime carefully placed his panicked iwanko in Tooru’s arms.

 

“Talk to her,” he said lowly. “Help her know everything’s going to be okay.”

 

“Iwa-chan…” The gym leader started walking out from around the tree, standing proud by his tyranitar. “-What are you doing?!”

 

Hajime looked up at his tyranitar, who was giving him the best  _ Are You Kidding Me? _ eyes his stony expression could muster. “Can you handle this, Crag?”

 

The pokémon already knew what Hajime was going to ask of him. He dug his thick legs into the sediment and balanced softly on his forearms. “Like we practiced. Stay calm. Peace of mind. Don’t worry about what happens next. Are you ready?”

 

Crag sniffed loudly out of his nostrils. Hajime spared a brief glance over his shoulder. This was only something he’d practiced privately, with no other trainers or pokémon around because he was afraid how it might affect them. Tooru stood by the tree, pressing Rocky’s face close to him and covering her ears. The gyarados was nearly a hundred yards away, he didn’t even know if the attack would reach that far, but he had to try  _ something _ .

 

“Dark Pulse.”

 

Hajime could feel it, not mentally, but in his bones. A soft  _ whomp _ that seemed to unsettle the environment around them. The murkrows and pidgeys that remained in the trees nearby scattered as far away as possible.

 

In Tooru’s arms, Rocky started shivering and curled up into a small ball. She whimpered and dug her paws into the foamy material of his wetsuit. Scrambling, Tooru tried to remember what Hajime just told him. “Hey. Hey, Rocky-chan, it’s alright. It’ll be fine. Open your eyes. Just for a moment, please open your eyes.” He placed a thumb under her delicate chin and forced her to untuck herself. He placed his forehead against hers and looked directly into her eyes. “You’re so brave. You’re the best. You’re just like Iwa-chan, look at him.”

 

He moved Rocky’s body so she could see her trainer. Tooru could tell it brought her a little relief as her muscles slackened. “He’s brave, too. Just like you! So stalwart…”

 

Meanwhile, Hajime was panicking. The Dark Pulse only seemed to be having an affect on the gyarados by making it  _ more _ angry. Why didn’t any of his pokémon know sleep attacks? Despite that, his nidoqueen knew Poison Barb. It was worth a shot. He tried not to let the shit be scared out of him when the gyarados turned his attention back to the coast, eyeing Hajime and his pokémon and screeching angrily.

 

“Go, Terra!”

 

By the sidelines, Tooru tried not to crush Rocky by squeezing her too tight. She wheezed softly in Tooru’s ear as he whined, “Oh god, what is he doing?”

 

The gyarados reared back momentarily and the space in front of his gaping mouth slowly started glowing as it gathered energy.

 

Tooru gasped. “Hajime! That’s Hyper Beam!!”

 

Terra’s long-distance skillset was limited, so she was able to figure out what Hajime wanted from her without him having to say a word. She bowed her head and shot off poisoned darts from her horn. Three pricks landed on the gyarados’ neck. Thankfully, it had an effect on the rampaging pokémon as it seemed to seize up and released it’s one beam into the sky. Hajime didn’t even want to consider the damage it might’ve caused if he hit a building or the mountains.

 

Because of the Hyper Beam, Hajime knew he was granted with a few moment’s reprieve before the gyarados could attack again. During that time, he hoped he would be able to taunt it closer to the shore and maybe use his rhydon’s Thunder Fang to finish it. A localized bite outside of the water shouldn’t be enough to cause any damage to the lake’s wildlife, keeping Tooru’s worries in mind.

 

Apparently simply existing was enough of a taunt to cause the gyarados to stampede towards them. Even without the ability to attack, it was incredibly intimidating. Hajime released his rhydon and panicked when he saw that not only was the gyarados rushing him, the recovery time after attacking was shorter than normal and he was also bringing a tidal wave of lake water with him.

 

“It knows Surf,” Hajime’s voice cracked.

 

It was too late to call back his pokémon. His rhydon, closest to him at the time, stood in front of Hajime and managed to not only protect him from the shattering water, but also broke the wave behind him so Tooru was safe as well.

 

When the water receded back into the lake, Hajime’s tyranitar, nidoqueen, and rhydon were finished. Their joints had become waterlogged and unmoveable, but their labored breathing meant they were still conscious. He returned them all immediately.

 

Now that the gyarados was on the shore, it seemed even more phenomenally huge than before as it cast its dark shadow over Hajime, and he realized just how screwed they were. With no pokémon left to fight with, and Tooru’s only pokémon too far away to retrieve, he could only gulp as the gyarados turned his furious beady eyes down towards Hajime.

 

Suddenly, the sounds of a scramble made him snap his neck to turn around. He watched Rocky break her way out of Tooru’s arms and sprint to Hajime’s side, barking madly at the gyarados. Tooru followed.

 

“Stop it! Are you crazy? Go find help!”

 

“I already texted an SOS out to Mattsun and Makki. I refuse to let you get hurt.” To make his point clear, Tooru reached out and grabbed Hajime’s hand. “I’m not leaving here without you.”

 

Hajime appreciated the gesture more than he thought. He gripped Tooru’s fingers tight and looked him in the eyes. The man was a lighthouse in a storm, and suddenly Hajime felt like if he had to die, then his last sight being Oikawa Tooru wouldn’t be so horrible.

 

“I…”

 

It was suddenly too quiet. Oikawa didn’t seem to notice as quickly as Hajime did. Rocky was barking  _ just _ a moment ago, and any dog owner knew silence was usually a bad thing.

 

He turned and saw Rocky bowed down, wagging tail in the air. She had a big grin and a happy tongue drifting out the side of her muzzle. Suddenly Hajime filled with dread again. The gyarados would surely  _ kill _ her, but instead the gigantic fish looked down at her with interest, its mouth politely closed. It even bounced, splashing the lake water with it’s giant tailfin.

 

Rocky turned to Hajime with an enthusiastic grin, then turned back to the gyarados and yipping playfully. The gyarados moaned back, less angry and more… friendly?

 

Tooru was suddenly  _ very _ interested in this turn of events.

 

“What on earth-”

 

“Iwa-chan,  _ shh _ –”

 

The low hum from the gyarados’ commutative growls seemed to vibrate the very air around them. Rocky ate up the sensation and responded by spinning in lackadaisy circles. Hajime almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing, and thankfully Tooru was there to translate.

 

“I’ve seen this happen before! Sometimes pokémon with dramatically different evolutionary personality traits can lose some of their memories from before evolution, but often times core memories remain. The gyarados remembers Rocky-chan being his friend!”

 

The gyarados lowered its mighty head down so it could get a better look at Rocky. The tiny iwanko waltzed closer to its wide snout and rubbed her cheek against it. The low rumbling from the gyarados sounded akin to…  _ purring _ .

 

“Iwa-chan!” Tooru whispered excitedly into his ear. “He might remember  _ you!” _

 

It seemed impossible, but Tooru had been pretty damn accurate in everything else he predicted about the magikarp before. Hajime was concerned for Rocky and almost wanted to grab her and bolt while the gyarados seemed calmed down, but Tooru had him by the hand and was egging him on.

 

“Do you have any empty pokéballs?”

 

The gym leader shook his head, feeling pathetically underprepared. He was usually better than this. “I’ve got  _ nothing. _ ”

 

Tooru was tapping his fingers against his lips again, trying to think up a solution. “It can’t be fully tamed without a trainer. Help should be arriving soon, though, so if we just wait…”

 

Well, Hajime was already convinced he was about to die at least three times this afternoon, so he was particularly heedless in the moment. Before he made a potentially terrible decision, he turned to face Tooru square-on.

 

“Let’s make a bet.” Perhaps it was his nerves, or that Tooru had been there for him during a very tumultuous time in his life, or there was a fifteen-meter tall ornery pokémon behind him, but Hajime was feeling bold.

 

Tooru was just confused. “And now is the best possible time for placing bets?” he asked, looking between Hajime and the gyarados, in case it made any sudden moves.

 

“If we make it out of this alive, I owe you dinner.” He watched as Tooru’s brows incrementally rose. “A nice dinner. At a nice restaurant without Hanamaki and Matsukawa around. And I’ll walk you to your doorstep and kiss you goodnight.”

 

Tooru imagined himself blushing if this happened at any other moment. He imagined them, even just a week ago, standing on his dock as Hajime dropped them off after a romantic dinner. They’d be dressed nice, for some reason he imagined Hajime would have a flower in his breast pocket, and Tooru would wrap his arms around Hajime’s shoulders and bring him closer, whisper sweet nothings. It was a thought he’d entertained on his morning trips across the lake on Mizuki-chan’s back, and he couldn’t fight the smile, despite the situation, that spread across his lips.

 

So why wait? Tooru released Hajime’s hand and wrapped his arms around his shoulders, bringing him so close he could feel his breath. Hajime still had the maddened look in his eyes, but it only served to make Tooru want to protect him more. He leaned closer and kissed Hajime on the lips. A brief kiss, but knocked the wind out of Hajime nonetheless.

 

“It’s not really a bet if I’m rooting for you, too,” Tooru muttered, lips gently moving against Hajime’s. “Try not to die.”

 

Hajime only nodded stupidly. This was suddenly a  _ terrible _ idea because he was promptly struck with a reason to live. Before he could talk himself out of it, he took a step back and Tooru lowered his arms back to his side. The look on his face alone was enough to kill Hajime, but there was no turning back.

 

He faced the gyarados and watched as it blinked and grunted once he entered its line of sight. Rocky jumped onto Hajime’s legs and he picked her up.

 

“Hey big guy,” he said, approaching slowly. It didn’t rear it’s head, but Hajime could see the obvious looks of concern. “Remember me?”

 

It breathed out heavily through its nose, spurting a mist of seawater and fish-smell Hajime’s way. He couldn’t tell if this was a good sign or not. Hesitantly, he whispered in Rocky’s ear.  _ “Hey girl, can you go to Uncle Tooru?” _ He placed her back on the ground, and she looked up at him in confusion. “Go. Go to Tooru.” He tried shooing her away, and she eventually understood, running off to Tooru’s side.

 

Tooru knew why. In case Hajime got taken up in the gyarados’ mighty jaw, he was to take Rocky and run.

 

Now, there were zero distractions. It was just Hajime and the gyarados. It fixed Hajime with a piercing, examining glare. Or perhaps that was just it’s face and Hajime didn’t know any better.

 

“…I remember you. It seemed like you were always around, jumping out of the water to say hello. I would always throw you back.”

 

The gyarados made a noise, like it was interested, and scooted its head a little closer. Hajime’s face stood almost eye-level with its face when it was laying on the ground like this. In a way, it reminded him of Rocky when she was acting coy. It was almost cute. It made him want to give it a pet, if it would allow it.

 

He reached out his hand, and its eyes immediately tracked it. He flinched, not sure if this was okay. Slowly, slowly he moved closer. His skin looked smooth from a distance, but up close he realized that it was actually millions of small, fiery red scales. It was still damp, but smooth as silk as he brushed his palm across its large cheek with the grain of its scales. It seemed to enjoy that, cooing comfortably and almost relaxing its eyes.

 

Hajime almost laughed. He couldn’t  _ believe _ this.

 

“I have some questions. Would you be able to answer them?”

 

The gyarados answered by quivering the fins on the side of its face and taking a deep breath.

 

“Do you remember being a magikarp? Do you remember your family?”

 

It cracked his eye opened and looked at him. A quirk of its eyelid revealed a look of remorse.

 

“You’ve been away from them a long time. Do you miss them?”

 

A small groan of affirmation.

 

“And you were their leader, weren’t you?”

 

It blinked at him. It was a difficult conversation to parse, but Hajime tried.

 

“You know they miss you, right?” Its eye twitched again with interest. “It’s true. They followed me after you got hurt, when I took you to Tooru.” He turned over his shoulder to Tooru, he was equal parts stunned and amazed. “That’s him. He let you rest in his healing pool and helped teach you how to swim with your broken fin. Remember the candies?”

 

_ That _ got its attention. It made a desperate noise and started shimmying further up the shore. Hajime laughed and tried to push back. He knew the gyarados could crush him like a toothpick, but it stopped when it felt Hajime push on his large snout. In that moment, he found himself hugging the large pokémon, and suddenly it didn’t seem so scary anymore.

 

“Tooru! It just wants a candy!” Hajime called, barely able to contain his laughter.

 

In a daze, Tooru approached the gyarados and used his free hand to dig into his pouch for the treats. Dropping the whole contents of the bag on its massive tongue would be akin to dropping crumb of milk bread on his own mouth.

 

The gyarados didn’t seem to care. It’s tongue, twice the size of Tooru, stuck out of its mouth and wrapped around Tooru’s entire arm, taking the entire bag with it as it withdrew back into his mouth. Hajime had never seen something so angry look so content. Tooru joined him in patting it on its cheeks.

 

“This is unbelievable.” Hajime couldn’t help but agree and, in a way, he couldn’t help but sympathize with the gyarados. His story felt a little familiar.

 

The sounds of tires pulling up through the dirt and screeching to a halt pulled his attention away.

 

“Oh my god.”

 

“…What did you  _ do? _ ”

 

The cavalry had arrived. Matsukawa and Hanamaki sat in the jeep, not finding the strength to even open the doors as they discovered that Tooru’s hastily constructed  _ HELP US _ text with a GPS tag attached led them exactly where the giant gyarados had been rampaging on their way in. They hadn’t expected to finally arrive on the scene to them having a bonding moment and hugging it out.

 

Rocky ran up to Hanamaki and tried to convince him with lots of jumps and tail wags that the gyarados was actually really sweet. Both men were confused if they should call out their pokémon to attack or leave it be. Tooru parted from the gyarados with a loving pat to its cheek before joining his friends.

 

“It’s okay, guys. It’s actually quite friendly…”

 

His voice slowly faded out when Hajime realized he was once again alone with the gyarados, and he could focus on its breathing and the feel of its scales beneath his skin. He placed both his hands on the gyarados’ cheek and leaned in close, placing his forehead against the scales and feeling the warm flesh beneath them. He spoke lowly, hoping that his message would get across, but was quiet enough so no one else would hear.

 

“You thought you were destined for greater things, didn’t you? You really wanted to leave this lake, that’s why once I started working for the gym, you started trying to get me to catch you.”

 

The gyarados hummed.

 

“I just want you to know that… sometimes life doesn’t work out exactly how you had it planned. But that isn’t always a bad thing. It can work out in ways you could have never anticipated.” Hajime looked over his shoulder at Tooru, who beamed at him from beside the jeep. “I mean just look at you,” Hajime added, calling attention to the glorious red scales that shined blindingly in the sun, “you’re indomitable.”

 

It shifted its head slightly, nudging Hajime back.

 

“I mean it. The fact that you were able to overcome everything and still come out as strong as you are is impressive. Any trainer would be proud to call upon you to help fight… but I don’t think it should be me.”

 

Hajime could feel the body of the gyarados shift, trying to conceptualize its disappointment in a way that didn’t involve shooting off another Hyper Beam. Hajime silently lauded its effort.

 

“Hear me out. I work at the gym right on the edge of the lake. And if everything works out for me, this could be my job for a long, long time. Like a lifetime. And that’s what  _ I _ want, but what you want is a life of adventure, and I can’t promise you that. You’d be better off with an experienced trainer who’s still working to complete their badges…”

 

The gyarados withdrew completely, moving too far away for Hajime to touch anymore. It gave him a deliberately impassive expression as it tried to think of a response. Finally, it decided to reach back down, loll out its huge tongue, and lick Hajime from his feet to the tips of his hair. His clothes, already in a disarray thanks to the early scramble, were now wrecked and he felt like a slimy mess.

 

From behind him, he could hear Tooru laughing.

 

“I hate to break it to you, Iwa-chan, but I think the gyarados chooses you, not the other way around!”

 

Dammit. Dammit dammit  _ dammit _ .

 

“Fine!” Hajime shouted. He turned to Hanamaki. “Do you have a pokéball?”

 

The gyarados nearly screamed as his friend’s faint eyebrows raised slightly. He patted down all his pockets, finding nothing. Matsukawa cleared his throat and pulled out a single, contracted unoccupied pokéball from his back pocket.

 

“This is all I’ve got. Use it well.” He pressed the circle to pop it to full size before tossing it to Hajime, who caught it singlehandedly.

 

“Thanks. I don’t think that’ll be a problem.” It had been so long since Hajime had caught a wild pokémon. The ceremony was rusted in the back of his brain. He gave the pokéball a weak toss at the gyarados, who was so ecstatic it was starting to hover slightly. “Pokéball, go!”

 

There was no struggle. There was hardly even a pause. The gyarados was transformed in a bright energy as it was sucked into the infiniteness of the pokéball, clicking shut without a moment’s hesitance.

 

“Iwaizumi caught a gyarados…” Hanamaki whispered, too stunned to believe that his friend finally cracked and caught a water-type.

 

“Iwa-chan caught a  _ shiny gyarados!” _ Tooru wailed. He broke away from the group to run up and tackle the man, knocking both of them into the shore. “That was  _ amazing! _ I saw all of it! You were  _ talking _ to it and Hajime it was obvious it  _ loved _ you I can’t believe you waited this long!”

 

Hajime shrugged his shoulders, sitting up so his ears weren’t underwater anymore. “I guess it made me stop and realize how great things are here. I don’t really want to wait for things to happen to me anymore.”

 

He took Tooru’s face in his hands and brought him closer. Their second kiss was a lot more sloppy than the first. They were both covered in lake water and stank of sweat and gyarados saliva, and Tooru couldn’t stop smiling so Hajime spent most of it kissing his teeth, but that was fine. Hajime couldn’t have been more satisfied.

 

A familiar sound welled up behind them, and Tooru grunted as he broke away from Hajime and nearly stepped on the man’s chest in his rush to get to his lapras, who had just welled up from underwater.

 

“Mizuki-chan!” Tooru nearly cried. “You’re safe!” He waded out to waist-deep waters and wrapped his arms around her thick neck. She bowed her head so they could both get a better look at each other. “Are you okay? I was worried sick! What were you doing hiding underwater like that?”

 

Hajime got back to his feet as he watched their conversation take place. For all his brooding, Tooru actually had a very deep connection to his lapras. They may not depend on each other to survive, like Rocky and himself, but the way they communicated reminded him of two very close friends. Tooru may have teased Hajime about being able to talk to the gyarados, but that didn’t hold a candle to the secret language between Tooru and Mizuki.

 

Apparently, Mizuki said something that made Tooru gasp and turn back to Hajime. “Iwa-chan! She was protecting the family! Look!”

 

The water surrounding the two of them bubbled and turned a familiar shade of orange before hundreds of magikarp started splashing to the surface. They leapt around Mizuki and rubbed their bodies against her in silent words of thanks. Their great leader’s sudden disappearance and transformation didn’t go unnoticed and Mizuki had journeyed to the depths of the lake to safeguard them from possibly getting hurt during the rampage.

 

Hajime looked to the pokéball in his hand. The gyarados  _ did _ say it missed it’s family. He tossed the ball out and released the pokémon back out into the lake. Hajime always thought Tooru’s lapras was huge, but it seemed dwarfed by the gyarados beside it, and in comparison the magikarp were like ants.

 

They didn’t seem to care. Once the magikarp saw their missing family, they torpedoed over to its side and excitedly jumped all around. The gyarados looked like it was near tears, and Hajime didn’t know whether to be touched or embarrassed that this supposedly rage-fueled monster he captured was actually just a giant sap who liked candy.

 

He contemplated whether or not he could leave the gyarados in the lake now that it was successfully his and obviously mellow. Perhaps it could share space with Mizuki and they could become friends. The thoughts of the future were getting Hajime pumped up, something that hadn’t really happened since he became a gym leader and Tooru walking into his life.

 

He looked forward to the next morning, when he will inevitably pull back the curtain to his bedroom and see Tooru on the back of his lapras hanging out in the lake waiting for him to wake up. He looked forward to the weekend, when he will take Tooru out for that nice dinner he promised. To months from now, when Tooru’s facility will have its grand opening and Tooru will probably fuss to make sure Hajime’s wearing a suit properly. To years from now, when he wakes up on a lazy Sunday morning to Tooru flipping pancakes in the kitchen.

 

It was embarrassing, imagining the future like this. When Hajime first got the call from the doctor saying his mother had fallen ill, he thought that was the end. And now, standing on the shore of lake he learned to love, he discovered that his life hadn’t even begun yet. Limitless possibilities, all thanks to a man with a terrible personality in a wetsuit.

 

Tooru smiled and waved him over. It wasn’t like he wasn’t already soaked to the bone, so Hajime didn’t hesitate and waded over. It was nice to be able to touch him, so nice to hold him close. Tooru welcomed the embrace, finally able to quell all this anxiety in Hajime’s arms.

 

“That was so terrifying,” the man said, breathing deeply into Hajime’s damp shirt. Tears were falling and disappearing into the cloth of the cotton sleeve. His nerves were finally getting the better of him. Despite the ending, it could have turned out a lot worse. Tooru was still smiling, despite it all. Hajime wrapped his arms around him tighter and grinned.

 

“It’s fine. I still won.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**~~~~~**

 

Hajime woke up to the smell of bacon. It had become a Sunday morning tradition at the house, somewhere between Tooru bringing his own toothbrush over to Tooru bringing his entire closet into Hajime’s small home. Getting out of bed Sunday mornings were significantly less difficult. He grabbed a pair of pajama bottoms tossed in the corner for a sense of modesty before walking into the kitchen.

 

He sidled up behind Tooru and wrapped his arms around his stomach, kissing him on the neck before letting his chin rest on his shoulder.

 

“You should flip…… right now,” he mumbled, still heavy with sleep. Tooru chuckled and flipped the thick slab of bacon he was nursing with his tongs. Sometimes Sunday mornings came with perks, like Official Bacon Commentator. Rocky wagged her tail by his feet, giving his toes a few good morning licks. She was Official Bacon Taster, and not even the paw of Entei could take that from her.

 

“You didn’t have to do this. Aren’t you exhausted?”

 

“Please, it’s not like I did anything other than smile and shake hands.”

 

There was more to it than that, though. There were interviews, questions about the long-term and the future of Tooru’s facility. The amount of trainers specializing in water-type pokémon and choosing water-types as their starter had nearly tripled the projected amount. Because of the increase, Hajime had to bolster his training regimen to meet the challenge. And to continue to meet demand, Hanamaki was moved full-time to the front desk of the gym offices while Ueno and Sarada stepped up to be the new challengers in his place.

 

Hajime puttered to the bay window and pulled back the curtain, Rocky following to sit on the window seat as usual to watch Mizuki and Akagawa playful spritz water on each other. In the background stood Tooru’s facility on the opposite shore, glowing in the halo of the sunrise.

 

“I can’t believe it’s been five years…” he sighed. Thankfully commotion had died down a few months after capturing the mythical gyarados, but for a while Hajime was worried people would always be crowding the gym for photo ops and asking if they could pet him. For Hajime the whole experience was draining, but with Tooru beside him, he was able to take it all in stride.

 

Hajime heard the sounds of Tooru turning the gas oven off and returned to the small dining table. He watched as Tooru moved methodically through the kitchen, knowing where everything was (he should, since he relocated everything around to a more sensible location upon moving in), placing the food on plates and delicately sliding them into place on the table. For Tooru, this was normal. It had been the routine for years now and he didn’t even second guess or falter. For Hajime, it always brought him to a pause, thinking how much he simply appreciated Tooru being there.

 

“Did you have any plans for the afternoon?” Tooru asked. He asked that every Sunday breakfast if they hadn’t made solid plans for a date. Sometimes Sunday afternoons were meant for relaxing, others for exploring, and sometimes on the rare occasion, it meant working.

 

“I have to run to the office today.”

 

That always gave Tooru pause. “Really? Why?”

 

“Some of the preparations for the anniversary party pushed some assignments behind. I need to look over and sign some documents before going back to battling tomorrow.”

 

“Iwa-chan that’s  _ boring _ .” Tooru was very much looking forward to a day of napping the exhaustion of last night’s party off all day with Hajime curled by his side. No such luck.

 

Hajime just shrugged. “It puts bacon on the table,” he said, tossing a scrap to Rocky who caught it mid-air.

 

Yes, Hajime had  _ very important _ work to do and lots of phone calls to make at the office, a place where he knew Tooru wouldn’t interrupt. It had been a special project he had been working on for months now. Last night would have been the perfect night to announce it, but he didn’t want to spoil Tooru’s fun.

 

Shortly after breakfast he got dressed in leisurely clothes and walked across the long lawn with Rocky towards the gym’s office. Once he was settled nicely in his office chair, he rolled over to his filing cabinet and pulled out a notebook, a  _ private _ notebook, with notes written about his special project. The first phone call he made was to his mother, followed by several others.

 

_ “Nice lake-front restaurants? Hajime, there must be dozens. But my favorite is probably the one where your father proposed to me… Let me find their number.” _

 

_ “Honestly, Hajime-kun, you should know how to tie a Windsor by now. Look it up online, you are not traveling all the way to Hibana City to have me do it for you.” _

 

_ “No, Buddy can’t produce Oikawa’s favorite flower, but I got you covered. We’ll get him something that smells nice. He always smells like fish.” _

 

_ “I’ll need about a week to build it, but my price is steep. Give Takahiro a day off and I’ll make sure it’s finished by next Saturday.” _

 

And then finally it was next Saturday.

 

Tooru woke up and brushed his teeth and puttered around the house the way he usually did before heading to work. The facility stayed open on the weekends, and even though Tooru usually planned it so he didn’t have any meetings or programs scheduled on those days, he still liked to be around. Normally Hajime grumbled about it, but today he was just fine.

 

“Any plans for tonight?” Tooru asked, looking at movie times in the paper.

 

“Yes,” Hajime answered, placing a mug of coffee by Tooru’s side, sweetened just how he liked it. He gave him a kiss on the crown of his head.

 

“Oh,” he responded, to the coffee, the kiss, and the announcement that they had plans. “Am I allowed to ask what they are?”

 

“Nope. Meet you at the dock at seven.”

 

Tooru knew he wouldn’t get much more out of him. He sighed, got dressed, and hopped on Mizuki’s back for a quick ride across the lake, followed fervently by Akagawa.

 

While Hajime prepared for the unveiling of his Special Project, Tooru tried his best to go about work as normal despite the excited knot in his stomach. The 11 o’clock Squirtle Evolution Seminar went off without a hitch. He monitored the mid-level training lesson in the afternoon, which ran smoothly as always. The only minor emergency was a seel with a twisted fore flipper.

 

Before Tooru knew it, his wrist watch read 6 in the evening and there he was, in a half-damp facility-embroidered polo shirt and non-slip shoes that squeaked loudly with every step he took on the polished concrete floors that led to the locker rooms.

 

Once inside, he received some double-takes from his employees.

 

“Oikawa-san!” Yachi cried, in hopefully pleasant surprise. It wasn’t completely uncommon for him to change here. It was the only part of the facility with showers. “What’s the occasion?”

 

“Date night!” he replied cheerily with a wink and a peace sign as he grabbed his garment bag and closed the door to the private shower stalls.

 

Once he felt adequately prim and proper, he made his way out to the docks in time to see Akagawa’s giant head strumming along the lake water, moving towards the shore with a sense of purpose. Standing on top using one of his large red horns for balance was Hajime.

 

Dressed in a suit and tie.

 

Hajime didn’t even wear a tie for the anniversary party last weekend.

 

Akagawa lowered his head so Tooru could gracefully climb up beside Hajime, using his hand for assistance. “Hel- _ lo _ ,” Tooru whistled, giving his boyfriend a good once-over. Hajime never mentioned it was a  _ date _ date. Now he felt underdressed in a button-up and slacks. “You’re wearing a suit,” he added, feeling the need to state the obvious, and making Hajime nervously play with his tie.

 

“Yeah.”

 

“You look good.” He calmed Hajime’s nerves by giving him a small peck on the nose. Usually in public he would grouse and tell Tooru to save it for later, but something about being several meters above the water and not a soul in sight made him care a little less. Instead, he grinned and straightened his posture to give Tooru a proper kiss on the lips.

 

Akagawa shared the same mental connection with Hajime that he had with all his rock and ground-type pokémon, and without being ordered slowly turned around and headed towards the boardwalk on the opposite side of the shore, adjacent to the Quarry Gym but a few kilometers away.

 

Riding on the back of the gyarados was exhilarating. Tooru held his arm out to catch the wind in his hair and fingertips. The cold evening air felt great on their admittedly hot skin. It made Tooru’s heart beat a little faster, knowing that even after all these years that he could still feel this way just by seeing Hajime in a suit.

 

They arrived at the edge of the boardwalk docks, Akagawa drawing attention no matter where they went, even though he was a regular appearance in the lake on a daily basis. People stopped and stared as Akagawa lowered his head so Hajime could hop off and assist Tooru down. They walked off hand-in-hand while people crowded around the friendly gyarados to ooh and aah.

 

Their dinner was held in a private booth outside, right next to the railing of the lake. The sun had nearly set and flickering gaslights provided a warm atmosphere to their table. Tooru ordered his perennial favorite spaghetti and meatballs, and Hajime couldn’t help but order the same thing.

 

“Iwa-chan! How am I supposed to mooch off your plate if you’re ordering the same thing as me?”

 

“I’ll give you one of my meatballs.”

 

“…”

 

“…What?”

 

“Why are you being so nice?”

 

Hajime just rolled his eyes and later that evening rolled a meatball onto Tooru’s plate.

 

After dinner they walked together down the boardwalk and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the pretty lights and street buskers. At one point, Tooru rested his head on Hajime’s shoulder and sighed deeply.

 

“You awake?”

 

“Mmm, yeah, just the usual Saturday evening drowsiness.” Work hadn’t been kind to either of them this week. “And you must be  _ exhausted _ . I can’t believe you gave Makki an entire week off when he only asked for a day.”

 

“I’m a generous boss.”

 

“You’re a pushover.”

 

Hajime hummed, unable to argue. “Well, it got the job done, at least.”

 

A somewhat cryptic response, but Tooru didn’t question it and Hajime didn’t pry. He figured it was time to wrap things up here, so he pulled Tooru towards a coffee stand by the pier.

 

“Coffee? It’s almost ten…”

 

“I know.” It was incredibly out of character for both of them, but Hajime ordered the small black roast and medium iced mocha, with two pumps of cherry syrup, and made sure to tip the barista generously. He handed Tooru the mocha and wrapped his arm around his shoulder, breathing into his ear, “I want you to be  _ alert _ tonight.”

 

Tooru’s eyes widened and a fresh blush deepened as he almost spat up the large gulp of the drink he just downed. “ _ Hajime! _ ” he chastised with a laugh, playfully smacking his brawny chest with the back of his hand. “I’m assuming you found a sitter for Rocky.”

 

They learned from their first time together that Rocky wouldn’t just obediently wait in another part of the house while they had their fun. Even locked in her kennel, she would bark and howl so loud that no amount of Matsukawa’s Slow Jams mixes could cover up. Eventually, and much to Hanamaki’s disconcernation, Rocky spent the night at Uncle Makki’s for every date night from then on.

 

Hajime just smiled and took small, proud sips from his coffee. Whenever he could make Tooru flustered like this, it filled with a prideful sense of  _ I’ve-Still-Got-It. _

 

Akagawa still waited patiently at the end of dock, paying no mind to the townspeople and tourists using him as a photo-op for their night out. As soon as the gyarados started moving at the sight of his masters, they backed away and let Hajime and Tooru climb aboard and swim off.

 

“I guess it has been really hectic for both of us lately,” Tooru sighed, leaning up against Hajime and letting the man be his pillar as they cruised down the shore back home. “With all the party planning and then this past week, we’ve hardly spent any time together.”

 

For the types of jobs they both held, being busy was just an inescapable part of it, but Hajime knew no matter how many late nights Tooru had at his facility, or early mornings Hajime had at his gym, they could always count on each other to be there when it mattered. That was one of the things that was so nice about him and Tooru, they could both be busy for weeks on end, but after it all they would still come home together, sleep in the same bed, and never once feel threatened. It was one of the reasons why Hajime wanted to try extra hard to make tonight incredibly special for Tooru.

 

Tooru didn’t suspect a thing until they pulled up to the gym hangar.

 

It was decked out in lights, exactly as Matsukawa promised. It seemed like he went all-out since Hajime gave Hanamaki the entire week off, and every single light bulb was lit up like a theatre marquee, from the poles to the ceiling, even the combatants stands. Strands of fairy lights hung loosely from the rafters to give the lights a sense of depth. All the work glowed brightly in Tooru’s eyes, giving him a sense of wonder and awe.

 

Akagawa wormed as close to the bay as he could, careful not to toss his masters about. He lowered his head and let them take their time to climb off.

 

“Hajime! What is all this?” Tooru asked, accepting Hajime’s hand as he stepped off Akagawa’s head.

 

Hajime kept his lips sealed except to dismiss the gyarados, who slowly swam off into the deeper parts of the lake where Mizuki liked to hang around at night.

 

Still holding his hand, Hajime led Tooru towards the gym hangar, each step brightening more along the way.

 

“It’s so beautiful! I don’t know what to say!” Tooru admitted once they were completely under the illuminated canopy of the hangar.

 

Lucky for both of them, Hajime had rehearsed this moment in the privacy of his office for the past month.

 

“I wanted to have this ready weeks ago, but we were both too busy,” he said, turning to have Tooru and taking both his hands. Tooru looked like he was about to cry, which was terrible because if Tooru started crying then Hajime wouldn’t be able to hold back either.

 

“Tooru… you mean…  _ everything _ to me. You showed me more about life, about succeeding and moving forward after setbacks, than I could have ever learned on my own. For that, I’ve become a better person. I see changes in myself that wouldn’t have happened without you there. I mean, Akagawa is living proof of that.” Tooru chuckled at that, sniffing back some tears. “I know we had talked about this… that we agreed that we would move forward when the time was right, and I think… I know, this time is right for us, Tooru.”

 

Hajime knelt down to one knee.

 

“Oh my god…”

 

“Oikawa Tooru,” he said, reaching into the inside pocket of his jacket.

 

“Hajime…”

 

He pulled out a collapsed pokéball and pressed the button to make it bigger. “…I challenge you to a rematch.”

 

Tooru’s face cracked, a huge smile splitting across his face. “Hajime,” he wept, falling to his knees and pulling the man close, kissing his forehead, his cheek, his ear. “I accept.”

 

Hajime smirked as Tooru pulled away and dusted himself off. “Same rules as before. One versus one, no switching, no potions, berries, or revives. Whoever faints first loses.”

 

It would be their first official battle since their first meeting over five years ago. They rose to their feet and Tooru removed his Pokédex from his back pocket, all his team’s pokéballs attached to the case. (Ever since the Akagawa Incident, he learned to never leave them behind.)

 

“So, what’s the prize when I win?” Tooru asked, already making his way to the challenger’s podium on one end of the hangar.

 

Hajime started towards the gym leader’s podium. “Proud words. Better back them up with more than just your mediocre wartortle.”

 

Tooru gasped. “Umiko  _ adores _ you! I cannot believe you would say that about your own daughter!”

 

The thing was, Hajime did feel a  _ little _ bad about it. Umiko was great. He and Tooru discovered her together when they found a squirtle shell stuck between some jutting rocks in a choppy river rapid during a hike on their third anniversary. She had an aggressive stare, just like Hajime, and she definitely seemed to admire him and join in his training sessions if Tooru was too busy at work. And the fact that Hajime had such strong feelings for a  _ wartortle _ was enough for him to know that tonight, he was making the right choice.

 

The next morning, Tooru woke to Hajime’s arms wrapped around him, his strong, callused fingers softly twisting the silver band on Tooru’s left ring finger. He admired the matching band on Hajime’s finger and sighed deeply.

 

“That was the  _ cheesiest _ proposal I’ve ever heard of,” Tooru muttered, his voice heavy with sleep. He stretched out his fingers and Hajime automatically intertwined them with his own, giving them a tight squeeze.

 

“Hm. I still won, though.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Tooru sighed, hiding his smirk in his pillow as Hajime leaned closer and pressed a grin into Tooru’s shoulder, peppering his skin with kisses. “Says you.”

 

The house smelled like the bouquet of flowers Hajime surprised Tooru with after their battle. It also still smelled a little like fish, but Hajime wouldn’t have it any other way.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!
> 
> Reviews / Kudos / Follows fuel me to write. Please leave a comment or whatever! It'd mean a lot! Thanks! ilu!! -SK
> 
> You can find me on tumblr: skinnedkneedmisfit.tumblr.com
> 
> A million billion thanks to my beta. She's on tumblr too: dude-chann.tumblr.com


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